


Genuine Moments

by PirateQueenNina



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Arrow - All Media Types
Genre: Drabbles, F/M, prompted drabbles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-09 08:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 55
Words: 61,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1975263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PirateQueenNina/pseuds/PirateQueenNina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laurel and Oliver in cute moments drabbles, from a list of 100 prompts</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bliss in the Rain

"Laurel, come on, don’t stomp away, it’s raining." He said as he got out of the car and walked after her. 

She kept on walking, despite being followed, and didn’t look back. “You don’t understand, it’s not that easy to just give everything up. I don’t want to just be a mother.”

"Who said you had to ‘just be a mother’ because it certainly wasn’t me." He said as he took her hand.

She stopped almost immediately and turned around to look him in the eyes with a bit of fire still in her eyes. “Like you would stay home with our child? We fight crime, Ollie. It’s not easy to just have a baby. We have responsibilities.” 

"I know," He said as he brought her fingers to his lips so he could brush them gently with kisses. There was nothing that would make him happier than her swollen with his child, but he knew that she was going to want to stay on the team. And then she would want to bounce back when the little one was out. And he couldn’t be selfish. "And for your information, I’d totally stay home and love our child if you wanted me too." 

"You think we can do it?" She asked.

He nodded. He did. He wanted more than anything thing to be a parent because he could give the legacy to someone else. And he loved her. There would be no one else he wanted to be a partner with on this, it was only her. “Yeah, I think we can.” He said with a smile, “but only if you want to.” 

"Then, yes, Ollie, yes." She said as she jumped into his arms and he wrapped his around her back. "We’re gonna be parents and that’s gonna be crazy. God, are we crazy?"

He chuckled a little. “Yeah, we are crazy, but it’s gonna work,” 

"It better, because you’re gonna have to deal with me when I can’t have caffeine and god knows, I’ll be a bear. You’ll probably have to deal with the rest of the team," She told him with a bit of a grin.

His eyes widened as he thought about the future that he had coming. “Is it to late to reconsider?” He chuckled as his eyes came back down, in a clear sign of jest.

Laurel kissed the side of his neck, “I love you, Ollie,” She said into his ear and pushed her wet hair back. 

He beamed up at her, “I love you too, Laur, but can we go back to the car?” He asked, “because soaking wet is not either of our best looks,” 

Laurel shrugged. “I don’t know, you love any look I rock. And you look pretty good too. Maybe we should just stay like this,” She said as she stuck her bottom lip out.

"Laurel, please," He pleaded. 

Laurel nodded as she took his face in her hands, “One thing first though,” She told him, smiling like an idiot.

He looked at her, “What, m’lady?” He asked.

"Our first rain kiss," She said as she kissed him in the rain. 

He felt her lips on his and he couldn’t be happier. She was happy. That was the most important thing to him. He knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life making her happy. And their first rain kiss made her happy. 


	2. A New Batch of Cookies

Laurel worked on the Alexx Pink case for the three days. She only talked to other people very rarely and she didn’t get to talk for very long. Oliver had given her a break on the whole crime fighting thing to be able to take this case, because it was big. 

It was good for her. It was good for her new firm too. Laurel got to represent the people that the victims that they couldn’t help in the vigilante way. But with getting good cases, that also meant they got noticed.

She sat with her lapdesk on her lap. She clenched her pen in her teeth and she highlighted the important parts of Alexx’s contract. She combed through her hair with her fingers and looked, there had to be a loophole that she could exploit.

Her bell rang.

She looked at the clock on her cable box, it’d been about fifteen minutes since she’d ordered food. 

They didn’t have many restaurants that delivered food anymore. That was probably due to the fact that Starling wasn’t exactly the place to keep a stable job or life for that matter. You never knew when someone was going to try to blow up the city. It happened twice. It could happen again.

Thankfully, there were a few places brave enough to keep stores around. She placed her lap desk on the coffee table and went and took a cursory glance through the peephole. 

It wasn’t food. 

But instead, Oliver Queen.

She took the chain off the door. ”You are not my Ethiopian food,” She said.

He nodded. “I have your Ethiopian food though,” He said holding up one of the two bags in his hand.

"You paid for my Ethiopian food? Aren’t you like sort of lacking funds since you stupidly gave your company over to a supervillain?" She asked him with a little bit of snark.

He chuckled a little. “Sara told you everything, huh?” He asked.

"Oh, yeah, she told me everything. She couldn’t keep it any longer." She told him as she laughed lightly. It was good to hear her laugh.

"Treating you when I know you’re working is worth it." He told her as he looked up from the floor and up to her face, "Besides, I’ve got a couple of other things for you,"

"Well, then," She said with a smile, "Come on in."

She sat on one side of the couch and put her lap desk back on her lap and picked up her pen and highlighters. He put the food on the table and put the other bag on the couch beside him. “So I know, you’ve been working and you don’t always take care of yourself,”

Laurel cocked her head and gave him a look. “You think that is the best way to get your karma going?” She asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Here, why don’t you just open the bag, it will make more sense to you." He told her as he gave her the bag and let her open it. She took the first thing out, the flowers. She looked to him and he nodded. "Because they are the one thing you love but won’t buy for yourself and with how hard you work, you deserve a little beauty." He told her and she blushed.

She put the flowers on her computer on the arm of the couch and put her lapdesk on the coffee table again. “You know you didn’t have to do that,” She told him as she put her hand on his knee and squeezed. 

"I know I didn’t, but look, there’s more," He told her as he put his hand on hers.

She took her hand out from under his and found a couple of her movies, a bag of microwave popcorn, some candy, and a tin of something in the bag. She held it up to him and rose her eyebrow.

"Open it," He told her.

So took the top off of the tin and found cookies. Not just any cookies. Her favorite red velvet chocolate and espresso chip cookies. “We haven’t talked about these in six and a half years,” She said as she choked up a little bit.

Sure, it wasn’t a big thing, but he remembered her favorite cookies through it all. He knew it was the little things that mattered to her. He wanted to show her that she was important enough to remember the minute details. “Like I said, you work hard, you deserve something special.” He shrugged.

She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him, because even through it all he cared to think about her favorite cookies. “Thank you,” She said as she released the kiss, reluctant because it felt so good. 

"That, I did not expect." He said and leaned his forehead against hers.

She shrugged. “Guess, things haven’t changed that much since the last time you baked me a batch of these,” She said with a wink.

"Oh yeah?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." She answered and kissed him again.


	3. A Queen's Vacation

They got off the plane and into the limo which he insisted on, she really would have been okay with a cab, but that would require him to tell her where they were going and he insisted on magic. He had packed her suitcase, flown them in a private plane, and gotten them a limo. It was a vacation and they were to indulge he promised.

When the limo stopped, he got out first, and Laurel sighed. All she wanted to do was to shower, which she hadn’t been able to do in the last couple of hours and wherever they were, she knew it was more humid than Starling in the summer. Much much more humid.

She looked at her phone. It was late-ish. And someone came and shook Oliver’s  hand and gave him something. “Can I get out now? I just want a shower.” 

Oliver smiled to her and then opened her door.

She stepped out daintily and looked at where they were. “You’re kidding, right? Ollie, I just want a shower. We can come back later. Tomorrow.” She said as she saw the Magic Kingdom in front of her.

"Actually, Miss Lance. You and Mr. Queen, you have the Royal Cinderella suite," He told her with a bit of a smile.

She looked to Oliver, “You got us the Royal Suite?” She asked with a bit of glee on her face. The other man grinned. He loved the look of surprise on women’s faces when they got the treat of a lifetime. 

"Yes," He said, "and we can get you a shower. We’re both gonna need one before we go to dinner. Sweat isn’t generally accepted at the place we’re going," He chuckled.

She smiled as she picked up her purse, “Where are we going for dinner then?” She asked him.

"That is part of the surprise," He told her as he took her hand and whisked her up Cinderella’s castle where she oohed and awwed over the beautiful things that he had miraculously gotten them for their vacation.

Their luggage was brought up as she took a bath and relaxed for a minute. She was relaxing in Cinderella’s castle. She was the luckiest girl in the world.

There was a knock on the door, “Yes?” She called.

"Just me," He said and opened the door. "I just thought that our first vacation together should be memorable,"

She smirked because he knew what he was doing, coming in there shirtless. He dropped his pants and joined her in the tub. She gave him a kiss and smiled. “I can’t believe you thought of all of this,” She told him as she shook her head.

"You deserve to be treated like the queen you are," He told her.

She scrunched her nose at him and kissed him again. “Since we’re on vacation, I’ll let you get away with that pun.” She told him as she fingered his abs.

"As much as I would like to couer, we cannot have sex in here. At least not yet. Dinner awaits." He told her as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.  

She nodded. “Well, then we need to get out before I disregard dinner as a wasted activity for the mortal.” She told him as she stood up. She realized that since he hadn’t told her where they were going, she didn’t know how to dress for dinner. “Umm, what am I wearing to dinner tonight?” She asked him.

"There’s a dress that’s already hanging up for you in the closet," He said as he walked out with a towel tied at his hips. "there are also some heels in there for you, and then you have some accessories at the desk, which is from the seventeenth century." He kissed behind her ear as she felt his sculpted abs on her back.

She opened the closet to find a red dress. With some designer heels. She shook her head and smiled. “You love magic. You know you get a kick out of this. You love the shock on people’s face when you remember, because you look like a big stupid lug. But you’re not.” 

"We have dinner," He said and led them down to the park and instead of going out, they went further in, to main street, where they went into a tiny gift shop and he put a key in another door. 

And then she realized where they were.  ”You knew that more than the Royal Suite, this is the place I’ve always wanted to see inside. Club 33.” She told him.

"And just imagine, this is the first night. We still have seven more days and nights to go." He told her and smiled as he brought her up to the hostess. "Mr. and Mrs. Queen, table for two." 

She chuckled. “You know I’m gonna make you buy me ears, for calling Mrs. Queen?” 

"Oh, I know, but pampering you has never bothered me. We’re gonna have a great vacation."

She nodded. “We are indeed.”


	4. An Afternoon to Relax

Oliver opened his eyes, not to ringing cell phones or people shouting but to peace and quiet, which was quite unlike the day to day of his life. He looked over and saw Laurel curled in his arm and smiled.

He settled down and kissed her forehead.

She opened her eyes and smiled to him. “What time is it?” She asked him as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

He reached out and got her cell phone from the side of her bed. They were in her bed. He pushed the button to make it come alive and laughed. “You’re not gonna believe it.” 

She blinked. “What time is it?” She asked with a smile.

"It’s 2:30 in the afternoon." He laughed.

She reached over and checked her phone.  2:30, somebody had to have called them by now. They never got to sleep in till 2:30. Absolutely never, they got to sleep in that late.

But there were no phone calls. No texts. No emails. No frantic voicemails. No facebook messages. No tweets. None of importance. “Did they contact you instead?” She asked him.

He shook his head. “Nope,” He said and held up his phone to show her his messages were ones that he could deal with later and it was normal stuff. “So what do you want to do, today?” 

"We have nothing to do today." She sighed.

He chuckled. “Yep, we can figure out what we want to do today, at least for now.” He said as he kissed her forehead again.

She scrunched her nose and blushed. She held his face and kissed his lips. “We can just relax, here in my bed,” Laurel said as she looked around. She couldn’t believe they had nothing to do.

"I could make you breakfast," He said with a smile.

She nodded. “You could. And we could watch that episode of the 100, that you missed. I know you love your action girls.” She said with more of a smile.

Thea smiled and shook her head, “If you two were more in love, you’d be a fucking romantic comedy. Happily ever after,” She told them as she turned away from them.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

Thea chuckled, “Oh me?” She laid her four fingers on her chest and asked him. “I’m going to meet Walter for lunch. As much as Malcolm is my biological father, it was Walter that got me through the tough parts. He’s the one who deserves to be called dad. Except he likes it when I call him Walter.” 

"Tell him we said hi," Oliver told her.

Laurel laughed. “Yeah, tell Walter that we’d love to see him sometime. Just today we’re relaxing.” She said and kissed him again.

"Yeah," Thea snickered. "I’ll tell him that. Have a good relaxing day. You guys have earned it." 

Thea shut the door as she left and Oliver looked down at her. “You put on an oversized shirt and we’ll watch it in the living room? I mean we have your whole apartment to ourselves.” He told her with a grin.

"Give me yours and we’ll call it done," She beamed at him and kissed him another time. She understood why Thea called them a romantic comedy, but honestly she didn’t care.

He pulled his shirt over his head and gave it to her, not resisting the urge to give her another kiss. “Breakfast will be set up in a jiffy.” He told her.

He went to the kitchen and she shook her head. She put his shirt on and went and sat on the couch. He had water boiling for coffee, some bread in the toaster, and eggs and bacon perched on the counter ready to fry up. 

She turned on the TV and waited to set it up while he made breakfast. 

He went into the living room and kissed her. “You can put it on. I have an egg-celent view from the kitchen.” 

"That joke is the worst," She said with a faux scowl.

He shook his head, “You love it and you know it.”

"Only because for some reason I like you. It’s the only reason I deal with your cheesiness." She told him as she kissed him again. 

He nodded. The water started whistling and he looked down. “I should get back to preparing breakfast. Because that’s ready to be coffee.” He jumped up and she shook her head, because he was her dork. He was her lovable dork who loved her more than anything and the way he was so excited to make her coffee was proof of that.

She put the show on and he looked over at her with love in his eyes as she curled up on the side of the couch. He cooked their breakfast and showed her that she would have him as much as he could.

When he brought their breakfast, she took it with a smile and they watched together. “I love that you cook for me.” She told him.

"I love watching TV with you," He said. "And you know, they remind me of us," He told her.

"Who?" She asked him with a mouth full of eggs.

He pointed to the tv, which panned to Kane and Abby. “Them. She’s the idealistic, save everyone. And he’s the one you think is a bad guy, when he’s just trying to do right. You can see them both grappling with their want to protect each other.” He told her.

"You were never a bad guy. Bad guys don’t make you breakfast. But personally, I think we’re more like Bellamy and Clarke. The head and the heart." 

"I think Kane and Abby are like that too." He said. "But I love just watching it with you." He said and cuddled into her.

She leaned her forehead on his. “I love spending my day to relax with you.”

"I love it too," 


	5. Flowers for the Dead

"You ready?" She asked him as she held her heel out and put her foot in. 

"Just a sec. Let me get me jacket from the closet," He shouted back.

She nodded to herself and picked up her purse. She went into the bedroom and kissed him lightly on the neck. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay,” She whispered to him.

He took her hand and squeezed it. “I know, I just…it’s, I don’t even know, anymore.” 

"I know," She told him, "But we’ll get through it together. You aren’t alone." 

He put his jacket on and took the keys from the nightstand. He took her hand again and they walked through her apartment and went down to the black limo. 

They made one stop along the way to get what they needed when they got to their destination. It was rude to show up without a gift for the people who invited you into their home.

Then it was a quiet limo ride, with her hand resting on his knee and his hand resting on hers. When they got to their destination, she looked to him and asked, “Are you ready?” 

He nodded. “I think it’s as good as I’m ever gonna get,” He told her with an absolute honesty he didn’t realize he had in him. Maybe it was her that brought that out in him. 

She stepped out of the limo and took his hand and they made their way through the gravestones and people who remembered their own dead to his. Two great big graves. 

It was a special day. It would have been Robert and Moira Queen’s anniversary. She remembered when she and Oliver made them really corny gifts about their love before the boat went down. Before Robert was no longer in their lives. And then Moira. Brave Moira. She always liked Moira’s deep sense of care for her family.

"Hi dad. Hi Mom." He said, stiff. He looked to her with a confused look. "Is this okay? I mean it’s supposed to help right, to imagine them as people? Or something?" 

She chuckled. “Would you like me to go first? Since I have more experience with this kind of thing?” She asked him.

He looked relieved when he heard that suggestion. “Could you?” He asked her. “It’s just I’m not very good at this.”

"Sure," She told him. "So, Moira, Robert. We hope you’re having a great anniversary, because even if you had problems and you weren’t perfect and maybe sometimes it wasn’t easy, you always loved each other. You know I remember when Oliver and I made you that cheesy heart frame with the picture of the first time you met. It’s actually at my house now. But we just wanted to come visit you today since it’s your anniversary and even though you’re dead, you mean a lot to us. And your important days shouldn’t be forgotten. We also have some big news for you, but I think Oliver should tell you about that." She chuckled as she looked to him.

He managed a smile and let out a breath. “Yeah, Mom. Dad. You’re gonna laugh at us, because both of you knew it would always happen. You two never approved of anyone else. You saw what that this woman was gonna change everything. And we thought we should let you know since it’s been awhile since we’ve been with you and this day was always special to you, that we’re engaged. God, what I wouldn’t do to give to see the knowing looks on your stupid faces.” He said as he wiped away some of the tears.

"We brought you some flowers. and some candles actually. Don’t worry, They’re ones that only take up like half the jar they’re in, so your graves are still can be okay," She told them, as if they worried about something like that. But they would have. She took one of the candles from him and she gave him some flowers, some nice and bright purple ones. 

She squatted down and put the candle on Moira’s gravestone which had a nice ledge and lit it. She gave him the lighter and he lit Robert’s candle. Then they switched places and gave both Robert and Moira flowers, laid them respectfully where they imagined there hands would be. 

She looked over to him and placed her head on his shoulder, but she had to stand on her tippy toes to do that. “You know, they would be proud of you. They would understand that we make the hard choices.  They would love you for wanting to save everyone. Your mother already did,” 

"I actually want to ask you something important," He told her as he pushed her gently back into her shoes and looked her straight in the eye. "So with the reacquisition of Queen Consolidated, I thought that maybe we should move somewhere bigger." 

Her eyebrows knitted together. “You didn’t tell me that you got Queen Consolidated back before.” She told him.  She was glad he did. He was very protective of his family’s things, but she thought he would be more excited about that. 

"Well, I wanted to make sure that I could get one thing back in the negotiation." He told her and he took the keys out of his pocket, opened her hand, put them into hers, and closed it back up.

She opened her hand up and saw the unmistakable QM keychain of the Queen Mansion, she looked up to him and smiled. “You got it back?” He nodded. “You got it back,” She squealed. She jumped into his arms and hugged him. “You want to move us back into your family home.”

He nodded. “I think mom and dad would agree. We always envisioned you in it. So will you please allow me to take you home?” 

She looked shocked. “We don’t have any stuff over there,” She said as she realized that moving was going to be a big to do. And she should probably keep her apartment too. At least until the lease was up. And they would figure it out later.

"I made sure they moved all of the Queen stuff back. We can be Mr. and Mrs. Queen for now, if that’s okay with you?" 

She shook her head. “Yeah, I mean we have a lot to talk about, but being Mr. and Mrs. Queen for now is okay.” 


	6. Meddling Marauders

"Come on, I want to go in," Laurel said as she pulled him into Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.

Oliver grumbled as they went into the candy colored shop. He didn’t want to come in here, but seeing the smile on her face, he couldn’t help but smile at her. 

She took his hand and looked through the entire show. This was one of those things that they didn’t get to talk about often, but was always part of them. 

They were part of that generation. The last book came out just before Oliver went on his stupid boat trip and he promised that when he came back they would read it together. She didn’t think it would take them five years. 

And then there was the movies. She went to the third and the fourth one with the boys on the premiere and it was supposed to be their tradition. And to be fair to Tommy, he always took her out. Made an excuse for her classes. Or work. And they would have a good time and just live for seeing the movie. 

They were a few of the only times that she smiled when Oliver was dead for five years on the island. 

"It’s okay to think about him," Oliver said as she touched all of the little products that he would have inevitably gotten a kick out of. He always loved the jokes. He loved the jokey characters. "He would be happy that we came here. That we were making happy memories together." He said as he put his hand on her shoulder. 

She looked back to him, “You think he would like that?” She thought a little about him all the time. But it was in this moment that she thought about him driving her home after the last one and how she cried because they were supposed to do this together. 

"Yeah," Oliver chuckled. "I think he would also like us to bring a bunch of things home. To remember him by. He’d have loved it here." He promised Laurel as he picked up one of the little horns and honked it in her face.

Her lips quirked up and she picked one up and let his hand go and started up the stairs.  He lit something within her and she wasn’t about to let it go. He saw her look through all the shelves and pick out one of everything, the best one.  She only accepted the best in Tommy’s memory. 

He hung out by the cash register and the watched her look at the love potions and pygmy puffs. “Is that your girlfriend or something?” The cashier asked him as she went hog wild in her excitement. 

"Something like that." He told the girl. He wasn’t really sure what they were quite yet but they were definitely closer than just friends. They hadn’t really talked about being boyfriend and girlfriend, but they were on their first real vacation together and yeah, she was remembering another guy, but he also remembering that guy. 

The cashier looked at her and back to Ollie. “Is she gonna bring all that stuff down here?” She asked as she saw Laurel with two arms full of stuff that including joke boxes and boxing gloves and pygmy puffs and little things that they could play with, that Tommy would love. 

"Yeah," He said and he looked away from Laurel for a second and looked at the lady cashier. "Here’s my card. When she comes down can you make sure she gets checked out." 

The cashier furrowed her brow, “Where are you going?” She asked.

"I’m getting her a thing, she’s gonna love it, but I don’t see it in here. But I saw it in the window of the next shop over, I’ll be right back," He said as he pushed the door open and went out.

Laurel came down and wobbled to the counter. “Hey,” The counter girl said to her. “I can get you over here,” She said as she finished ringing up the person she was dealing with. 

Laurel opened her arms and everything toppled onto the counter. “Where’s Oliver?” She asked as she looked around the store. “I thought he was over here.” 

"That’s your boyfriend right?" The counter girl asked.

Laurel blushed. “Something like that, we haven’t exactly talked about it.”

"Do you want a nobody’s opinion?" The cashier asked, a little frazzled with the both of them.

Laurel shrugged.

"Look, that boy loves you. He gave me his black amex and told me to take care of you so that he could get you something. I don’t know what it was, but he left a lot of money that I could have just charged him. And he clearly loves you more than his money. So honey, you make sure you make it official, because guys like that don’t come around very often." She told Laurel and Laurel blushed harder than she had before.

Oliver burst in as Laurel got the last of the bags in her hand and he smiled to her. “So, I realized there was one thing here that he would want us to have, but that they didn’t sell in here. Because I remembered he made us one for the place by the pier.”

He took it out of the bag and showed her the Marauder’s Map.

"Oh my god, he would have loved it," Laurel beamed at him. This was the one thing in the whole thing in the whole series he loved more than the jokes. "Oh, and it says mischief managed." She told him.

He loved that she loved it. “So you’re all done here?” He asked.

"Except for one thing." She told him with a great big smile. She didn’t look at the cashier but she knew that she smiled underneath her breathe. He nodded at her. "What are we? Are we together?"

Oliver realized what she was asking about. “Look, Laurel, I bought you a fancy vacation. There is no one else I would rather be with. So if you want to be, I’d love to be yours.”

"Well, then I guess that mischief is managed." Laurel said and scrunched her nose.  And Oliver rolled his eyes.


	7. New Car Smell

"Do you have a minute for me?" Oliver said as he knocked on the door of her new District Attorney’s office. He smiled.  She was a good ally to have for the outside world.

She looked to him and beamed. “As long as you don’t ask me to take another vacation.” She told him because as much as she loved being on vacation, she came home to a heap of work and she really hadn’t slept in the last couple of days. 

He laughed. “I promise, no vacation. Not for a while,” 

"Well, then, what do you need Mr. Queen? I’m a very busy woman as you know," She linked arms with him and he steered them to the elevator. 

He shrugged. “I don’t know, I thought you might want to take a drive. maybe go to lunch.” He told her as he pushed the second floor parking button for the parking garage under the building. 

"My car is on the first level of the parking garage," She told him and he covered up the button. "Ollie! Come on, stop being childish, I need my car." She told him.

He shook his head. “You’re coming with me.”

"Oliver Jonas Queen, what are you doing?" She questioned with a bit of fury in her eyes. He just smiled, because she really had no idea what the hell was happening and it was beautiful to pull one on her. When they got to the parking garage, she refused to step out of the elevator. "You need to tell me what’s going on." She demanded. 

He chuckled. “You are coming with me. And I’m surprising you with something. Just come on.” He said. 

"You’re not proposing are you?" She asked and she practically stopped breathing. They just started dating again. She didn’t know if she could deal with him with him proposing. Vacation was great and things were magical, but she needed to just have some time to herself too.

He shook his head. “I’m not proposing, okay? Will you just start breathing again?” He asked as he stuck his hand out for her to take, so he could lead the way. 

She took tiny steps out of elevator and took his hand and hoped she wasn’t going to her death.

He lead her to a Rolls Royce, which she knew wasn’t his. “Who’s car is this?” She asked him. “Did you steal a car?” She asked as the realization came upon her. She was the D.A.  but that didn’t mean that she could always turn a blind eye to his shenanigans. And stealing a car and then showing it to her was definitely not cool.

"No, I didn’t steal it, thanks for the vote of confidence by the way," He said with some sarcasm.

She looked around and made sure that no one was seeing them fight. “I panicked okay? People don’t usually come to me with cars they don’t own for good reasons.” She told him. He took the keys out of his pocket and gave it to her. She looked up to him confused. “What are these?” She asked.

"Those would be keys." He nodded.

She glowered at him. He knew what she meant and he was being a dick about it. “I mean, are these for that?”

He nodded. “Yep, Rolls Royce Ghost, the perfect car to say look who’s better than you and got the law on their side, bitch,” He chuckled.

"Oliver, I can’t take this," She said as she shoved the keys back into his hands. First the gifts and the vacation and now the car. Oh, god, they were going fast. Not that she didn’t like fast. They were fast and hard type of people, but she could take that. That car costed a fortune. "this, it’s too much," She insisted.

He spun the keys around his finger and chuckled looking at the floor. “You know, I figured you might say that. So I donated it to the legal system of Starling City. And they asked me who I thought most deserved it. And I told them, you. The D.A.’s office. So it’s a company car, but it’s yours for now.” He told her. “And when you leave office, they’ll either decide to keep it or to sell it and put that money back into the justice department.”

She took the keys back from him and leaned up to give him a kiss. “You know you are the craziest man that I’ve ever met?” She asked him with the biggest grin on her face.

"Yeah," He said with a grin of his own. "but I’m the crazy man that makes you happy and that’s something that very few people get to do, so you know it’s a give and take situation," He told her. 

Laurel looked inside the car for a minute and just smiled. This was everything she ever wanted. And she wouldn’t really even get to drive it. She knew that the Mayor would insist on some security. “I’m gonna be the district attorney with the most bombass car to go to meetings in. Take that Gotham City,” She said.

"You’re gonna look pretty hot in these wheels. Who knows, maybe the  paparazzi will follow you around, trying to catch glimpses of you out on the town with some secret hunky guy?" He said, theorizing to all the things that could happen with this car.

"You know, this car is going into the legal department when I decide to leave the D.A.’s office right? It’s gonna be no one else but me driving this car." She said.

He nodded. “I figured that’s what you would want to do. But it was the only way I could get you a car that you wouldn’t insist on giving it back. Now it’s a company car. And I got a huge write off.” He told her with a smirk. 

"You just want to get me used to fancy things so you can dote on me. And I’ll love it," She said and stuck out her tongue as she got into the driver’s seat. "So you said, something about lunch?" She asked him. 

He shook his head. That was his girl. Wanted to play with her new toy. “Yeah, I think I did say something about that. You have a place in mind?” He asked.

"Oh, I think I know a place or two," She said with a smile as she put her foot on the gas pedal and just drove with the feeling of freedom in her soul and the new car smell in her nose. 


	8. Memories for Dinner

For the two of them, home wasn’t a place. It was a person. And they were finally home. Cuddled up in each other’s arms, they could relax and feel a sense of normalcy.

It had taken two years for Oliver to realize that he never needed anyone else to be his other, two years to figure out what he was doing, but he did it. He finally realized that the only time he felt truly at home was with Laurel. 

He apologized profusely for his dalliances and he expressed guilt over yet again picking the wrong Lance sister and somehow, somehow, she’d forgiven him. They started as friends, working that relationship back up, bumping shoulders and him picking her up and her kicking her legs. 

"It’s cute how you two play just like kids. Reminds me that you guys have been together your entire lives," Felicity said as she wrinkled her nose at them in a playful manner. Laurel always brought that out in him. It was his joy everyday to make her smile and boy did he try everyday, so very hard to make her smile. 

Of course, being friends was an entirely different thing from dating. Diggle though had an entirely different look on the matter, “Look, kid, you’re already spending so much time with her. And she knows you. Good and Bad. All of it. Just ask the girl to dinner where there are cloth napkins and there aren’t things that you can pick up with your hands to eat. That girl has always hung the moon for you.” 

"You think so?" Oliver asked his trusted friend. Diggle had never turned him around before, he didn’t think he’d so now. 

The other man shook his head and looked the him straight in the eye, “Kid, I know so. You might not have a blindspot for her, but it’s always gonna be about Laurel.  Everyone goes through a Laurel comparison, so just stop whining about it and ask her to dinner. Nice one too.” He ordered the kid.

Oliver didn’t think he put everyone through a Laurel comparison, but he put that out of him mind and looked at his phone with a picture of Laurel and him on the lock screen and she was making the most adorable face at him with her tongue stuck out. 

He couldn’t remember another time when he was so happy. They didn’t have anything important and so maybe he would take Diggle up on that suggestion. It was dinner time and he could get them in anywhere. 

She worked his salmon ladder like a pro. Did it with the grace he never saw someone else do the salmon ladder with.

"You almost done?" He asked.

She came back down rung by rung and jumped practically into his arms, “Am now.” 

He bonked her head with his own. “Do you want to go to dinner?” He asked.

She shrugged. “Sounds good. Where are we going? Big Belly?” She said with a big smile.

"I was thinking somewhere a little bit nicer," He told her with a little bit of a chuckle in his voice. 

She blushed. “So I would probably need a shower, huh?” She asked.

"Yeah," He said as he gave her a towel. She wiped some of the sweat off her face and chest. He stood up and pulled her up with him. "So we can stop by your place and get you a shower and then we can go to dinner, yeah?" He asked.

She looked up to him with her big bright eyes, and asked him a very simple question which he did not expect. “Are Felicity and Digg gonna meet us there?” 

Oliver chuckled. Oh she wanted to really be part of the team. She was going to be a great asset to all of them. “Well, actually I thought you and I should go to dinner. Like we used to.”

"We used to go to dinner with Tommy. That was kind of our deal," She told him as she with a confused look on her her face, because she clearly didn’t get she was being asked on a date. "So having dinner with other people is sort of like what we used to do."

He blushed a lot. “Yeah, but with Tommy. It wasn’t a work dinner. And I would like this to not be a work dinner,” He whispered to her. “You know, like we used to do with Tommy.”

"So you want to take me to dinner?" She asked as she nodded her head slowly.

He nodded to her. “Yes, I would like to take you to dinner. And not to big belly. And not with Felicity or Diggle.” He promised her.

"What brought this on?" She asked.

His cheeks reddened and she smiled a little wider and he looked her straight in the eyes. “Because I remember when we used to go to dinner. When we were friends. And more than friends. And I remembered it on all of my dates. So I would really like the chance to go to dinner with you again.”

"You know I hate the term more than friends as a way to imply romantic relationships, right?" She told him with a little bit of a smile of on her face, but he could definitely tell she was being serious. "Because it implies that friendship is less valuable than romance. And it enforces the rape culture in our society," 

He sighed. He knew this about her. He knew she wouldn’t make it easy.  ”You want to know what my favorite memory of being out to dinner is?” He asked her. She looked confused, but she stopped talking for a minute. “My favorite memory of being out to dinner is with you, right before we started dating. I took you out to this fancy restaurant and you looked like you had walked into a fairytale.

"And during dinner, you said that it meant something to you that I was willing to take you out to dinner because dinner meant that I was willing to sacrifice all the things I could be doing to get to know you a little bit better. Because dinner is after work and school and it’s the meal people have usually while experience something that brings them great joy, especially at a restaurant like that because restaurants like that force you to sit down and get to know a person. They are cost prohibitive for most people and they rely on luck and manners you don’t have to use everyday.

"And it meant something to you that a guy would take you to dinner because it showed that the thing that brought them great joy was you. And I’m asking for you to go to dinner with me, because I would like the chance to show you, you bring me that great joy."

Her lips quirked up and she smiled. “That was the dinner right before I met your mother. And you asked me to be your girlfriend.” 

"It was indeed." He blew out a breath.

She nodded. “I would love to go to dinner with you.” 


	9. Touch of Life

"Are you sure we have to go to this one?" Laurel asked him as she put her number 657 fuchsia fusion revlon lipstick on in the mirror as she looked around to see who was coming. They came early and were getting ready in a small dressing room at the top of the stairs. 

He kissed her neck gently, “We’re already here. You have to be here for me. I don’t know any of these people, and I don’t know how to act at funerals.” He told her.

She looked up to him and frowned. “You know I hate funerals, right?” Laurel asked him, because she really did. They seemed like a waste of time to her and they weren’t worth the trouble.

"No one you know is going to have a funeral for a long time, okay?" He asked as he rubbed her arms and looked at her through the mirror. 

She sighed. She guessed he had a point. He never went to a funeral. He didn’t know how to deal with the people at them. But she had entirely too much experience with funerals. And the graveyard for Starling City was already so full with people she knew. 

There was a knock on the door and Oliver looked at his watch. He looked to her and nodded. She sighed and got up. He got the door. Diggle. “Hey, thanks for being here guys. I’m sorry we called you around so early, but we just needed some backup in case.” He explained.

Oliver shook his hand. “Not a problem, Digg. We’re both here for you.”

"Yes," Laurel said as she stood by Oliver. "We’re here for you. Even if one of us violently hates funerals," She told him. 

Diggle looked over at Oliver. “Why’d you bring her? You know the girl hates funerals. And you know I can’t blame her. If I had been to as many as she’s been to in the recent years, I’d probably hate them too.” 

"I need her here, Digg." Oliver said. 

Laurel sighed as she smiled to Digg. “It’s fine. We’ll just sit in the back and I’ll deal with it.” She told him.

Diggle kissed her forehead. “Thank you for coming. Lyla appreciates it too. She thinks you’re so strong for coming with this kid, even when you had no obligation to do so.” 

She wrapped her arms around him. She was here for Diggle as much as she was here for Oliver and she wanted to show him that. She wanted him to realize that they were all family. Her allegiance to Oliver made them all important parts of her life. “We should go down and pay our respects to the dead.” 

The three of them went down the stairs and saw Lyla with the baby on her hip and greeting the guests with another.

Laurel shook her head. That would not do. Lyla shouldn’t have to deal with the baby while dealing with the people who were no doubt a wreck. She took the baby and she saw Lyla mouth a small thank you and Laurel just shook her head more. She didn’t need thanks for doing 

"You look good with a baby in your arms," Oliver told her as he cooed at the baby, one happy moment before they had to deal with the really undeniable reality of death and the memorialization of it, him for the first time, and for her, the most current in a long long of times. 

She looked to him and smiled. “Yeah, well don’t get used to it. I don’t think I could handle having a little one quite right now.” 

"It would take your mind off of all the death," He told her. 

She looked at the kid and was reminded that life could be chubby and optimistic and yeah, maybe Oliver was right for a minute and she could just focus on this baby who was the product of so much love and love in the stead of adversity. “I still don’t want a baby,” She told him with a smile, “But if you’re nice, I might consider it.” 

As all of the people assembled into the church, Diggle came and took his child from Laurel and sat with Lyla at the front as the line was formed and they would be the last to pay their respects to the dead. The ones closest always did, she reminded herself. 

She stood up and Oliver stood up with her and they waited for their turn to quietly look at the body, say a few words, whatever they could, and return back to their seats. 

As they got closer to the body Oliver squirmed. “What happened at my funeral?” He asked in a whispered tone.

"They had a closed casket sitting there for you," She told him without looking at him.

He nodded. He understood. His body hadn’t come back and there was nothing to put in the ground, but the casket was a symbol. “What did you say to me?” He asked.

She stopped him fiddling with his hands. “I cursed you. I cursed you for getting on that boat. And I cursed you for doing it with my sister. I cursed you for leaving me because I didn’t think I could take my life without you.” She said and then they were in front of the body.

Staring at the body was a strange and surreal experience he wasn’t sure he was ready for. “We didn’t know her. What do we say?” He asked. 

"We don’t say anything. Just…hold my hand and bow your head for a moment." She said as she opened her hand to face his and bowed her own head. 

He did the same, still not quite understanding the ritual. But she was the one who was good at this. They left the body, stood at the side and waited for Lyla and Diggle. He expected Laurel to drop his hand, but she didn’t. 

During the rest of the funeral, he did as she did and mostly, it was just holding hands. They rested them between them, and they were quiet.

Afterwards, when no one was left except Diggle and Lyla in the church, he looked to her, hands still interlocked and asked her. “Why did you ask me to hold your hand while we were honoring her?” 

She smiled. “Because it is the most basic celebration that we are still alive. If nothing else, funerals get together people who are still alive to celebrate the life of a newly deceased person. We didn’t know her and so to have a moment where we felt another person’s life in our hands, it’s important.” 

"Did people do that at my funeral?" He asked, a little morbid, but the questions weren’t off the table.

She smiled a little sad, and kissed him, and nodded. “A lot of people did that at your funeral. You were missed so much more than you realize.” 

"I don’t think anyone missed me more than you." Oliver joked a little.

Laurel scrunched and smiled. “Maybe Thea.” 

"She’s family. It was kind of required." 

"You were my boyfriend. It was kind of required for me too." 

"But I cheated on you. And you cursed my name at my funeral." 

"Only because I was so in love with you. God knows why."

"And you’re still in love with me Laurel Lance," 

"I’m still in love with you, Oliver Jonas Queen." 


	10. Unsure and Confused

He saw Laurel in the bathroom and saw her pacing back and forth and wondered what she could be doing.

He knocked on the door and she looked up and nodded. He opened the door a little wider. “What’s going on? You seem tense.” Oliver asked. 

If Oliver noticed, then it was bad. She sighed. “Do you promise that you’re not gonna freak out when tell you, because I don’t think I can deal with you and this at the same time. I thought it would be quick and easy, but it wasn’t.” 

"You can tell me anything couer. I’m always gonna support you," He said as he sat on the toilet.

She nodded. He said he could handle it and so she trusted him. She bent over and picked the box up from the trashcan. “I missed my last period,” She told him.

He looked at the box, bright pink with graphic turquoise ribbons and black letters on it. First response. Missed period. “So you think?” He asked, as he looked at the test and then looked back up to her.

She nodded. “I’m figuring it out now,” She told him.

"How many more minutes?" He asked.

She looked at her cell phone and sighed. “Two minutes.” She looked at the test wrapped in toilet paper on the counter and looked to him. “This is the longest three minutes of my life.”

"And I thought I was the one who shared that moment with you." He chuckled.

He took her hands in his and sat her down on his lap. “You know, we’re gonna to be able to handle whatever comes of this. You and I have always figured out what we wanted to do.” 

"I don’t know how to be a mom. What if I’m terrible at it?" She asked as she leaned into him. 

He shook his head. “Not possible. You, my darling, are a fierce protector. And if you want, we don’t have to do this now. We can be a family later in life.” 

"You wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t want this baby?" She looked up to him and blinked. She knew his priorities and family was first. 

He shook his head. “You, Laurel Lance, are my family, and if you don’t want to have this baby, I’m gonna support you. I’m just glad you told me. It does have me a little bit excited that we could parents though. When I was the island, I always thought about what it would be like to have a baby with you,” He whispered in her ear and kissed her temple. 

"Your belief in me is amazing," She said as a tear rolled down her face and into his shirt. 

He shook his head. “My belief in you is well proven. You are the best thing to ever happen to me.” He told her and pushed her hair around, because comforting her became his life.

"You know," Laurel said as she snuggle a little deeper into him. "You are the best thing to happen to me too," 

He laughed. “I’m sure your father would care to debate with you on that one.” 

"He’d lose. I live to argue," She said as she wiped a few of the tears from her face and gave him a kiss before the timer went off. She turned it off and smiled to him. "Are you ready to see if we’re having a baby?" She asked him. 

He patted her bottom and she got up. “Can I do the honors?” He asked. 

"I’d love for you to do it, because I don’t know what I want." She told him as she moved her gaze from him to her feet.

He held her chin and made her look at him. “We’re gonna be fine. Whatever you choose. We’re gonna be fine. You and I will deal with it, once we know the answer,” He told her.

He gently unfolded the toilet paper and opened the little booklet and she picked at her nails. He hadn’t said something in a long time and she couldn’t believe that it could be that hard to tell, “So, what’t the verdict?” She asked him.

He looked over his reading and smiled and then looked back at the stick. “So, one dot is not pregnant. Two dots is pregnant. And we have two dots,” He told her.

"Oh my god," Laurel said as she realized that their was a little baby with parts of both of them in her. There was a little person who was going to come into the world and share both of their names. "We have a baby. We have a baby. We have a baby." 

"And?" He asked.

She jumped into his arms, “We’re gonna have a baby. We’re gonna be parents.” 

He started crying then and he twirled her in his arms as he brought her up to bridal style and gave her a kiss. “You have made me the luckiest man on the planet.” They were gonna be parents. He was going to have a little person who was part of him. 

He started to take her to the bedroom and she clucked at him. “I need my cell phone.” She told him. 

"I thought maybe we could wait on that part." He told her.

She shook her head. “If you think that my dad would let you live when he realized that I didn’t tell him right away because you wanted to have sex, you have another thing coming. Besides, I want tell Felicity and Sara too.” She told him

"You know I’m not so scared of your father." He said as he puffed up his chest.

She giggled. “Sure you’re not. Which is why I always have to call him if you have something important you need from each other. You’re both scared.”

"Only because we have the best woman in common. And we know you could kick our ass." 

He put her down on her feet and she went back in and grabbed her cellphone in one hand. When she came back out, she took his hand in her other one. “I’m glad it was you.” 


	11. A Swingset for Starling's First Family

"You know what today is?" Laurel cooed at Olivia, her beautiful daughter as she picked Olivia up and bounced her up and down.  Olivia blinked a couple of times.  "Today daddy is gonna build your swingset in the big Queen Mansion backyard." She said in a high voice.

Oliver shook his head and smiled at his little girl and his best girl. “You know, we could have had this built. I don’t have to do it.” 

Laurel shook her head at him. “It means more if you put some of your own work in it,” She said as she spun Olivia around.

"That is the silliest excuse you’ve had for anything," He said and he kissed her on the ear, which tickled and made her squirm away from him. "It’s a good thing I love you, or else I might not take this silly excuse."

Laurel laughed at him. “Oh like you could resist a face like this?” She asked as she held Olivia up at him and smiled. He chuckled and blushed too. “See, you could never resist. You just act like a big tough man.” 

"And to anyone but you and Olivia, I am a big tough man who makes all the tough decisions," He said and kissed her forehead.

She let him and she even blushed as she bounced the baby. “Well, come on, let’s get going. Is Diggle outside?” She asked him. 

"Yes, m’dear. Diggle is outside, ready to help me build Olivia’s swingset. Would you bring out some coffee for the poor man? He looks ready to take a nap on that bench." He said as he hauled off the box into the yard.

Laurel bounced Olivia on her hip and looked out the window as she saw Oliver with a great big smile on his face, running around the bench and she saw Diggle scowl a little at him because of it. “Come on, let’s get your daddy and Mr. Diggle some, coffee,” She said to Olivia, “How does that Miss Olivia Morgan?” She asked.

Once the water whistled at her, she put it in the carafe and put the coffee grounds she had ground up in the carafe too. She danced around the kitchen and smiled at the two men outside who were looking at the instructions and looking confused. 

Olivia squealed. “Oh do you see daddy?” Laurel asked and Olivia squealed a little more and put her hands in front of her face. Laurel looked at the time and looked at the coffee, it was nice and black. She took some mugs out of the cabinet.  

She looked in a bunch of cabinets for a tray and looked to Olivia and gave her a nose kiss. “Do you know where daddy put the serving tray? Huh, do you?” She asked.  Olivia didn’t answer with anything but a giggle. 

She saw it out of the corner of her eye and smiled. She put the coffee carafe and the mugs on the tray along with some milk and sugar and opened the backyard double doors, with Olivia still on her hip and smiled to the boys. “I’ve got coffee.” She said.

Oliver put down his hammer and Diggle put down his screwdriver and looked at her. “And how is the precious little Olivia?” Diggle said as he took her from Laurel’s hip and spun her in the air. “Is she still picking on her daddy?” He asked as her made faux biting, one of Olivia’s favorite games at her. 

"Oh, always Diggle." Laurel laughed. She looked at the progress and nodded, suitably impressed.  "Thank you for coming by the way. Oliver didn’t want me out here, said I would distract him or something like that," She teased as she stuck her tongue out at Oliver.

Oliver came and tackled, “You are the best distraction ever, Laur. But you want this done and Digg’s my man.” He said and she just scoffed and rolled her eyes. He, then, resorted to tickling her.

Diggle watched the whole scene and smiled to Olivia. “If they’re not careful, you’re gonna end up a big sister sooner than they think. Yep,” He said.  ”Not that you wouldn’t be great with other kids. Arin already thinks your great.”

Oliver rolled Laurel on top of him and looked at Diggle. “Don’t you give my daughter any ideas.”

"Then don’t act like you guys are horny teenagers, or she totally we will have a sibling," He told the two as he bounced Olivia in the air. 

Oliver looked to Laurel and grinned devilishly. “I should probably get back to work,” 

"You have coffee," She told him as she kissed him on the nose. He pushed off her and onto his feet and pulled her onto her own. She brushed the dirt off herself and took Olivia from Diggle, "Come on, Liv, we’ll check in on them later," She said as she went back towards the house.

"Hey," Diggle said as his phone twitched. "Felicity’s at your door. With Roy. He’s here to help. He met her at the coffee shop getting a donut." 

"Sure he did," Laurel laughed.

Oliver looked to Diggle, “What’s she talking about?” He asked.

"Oh nothing, I promise." He said and laughed a little. He wondered when the poor man would get a clue. He was lucky he had Laurel and Olivia. 

Laurel bounced Olivia all the way from the backyard to the front door and smiled at Roy and Felicity, who looked happy to see her. “Baby Liv! My little hacker to be,” giggled Felicity as she took Olivia.

"You’re not getting your paws on her. That girl is going to law school." Laurel said as Roy came in and she looked out and saw, Thea.

Thea blushed, “Hey, I, uh, heard that you guys were having a family get together practically. And I wondered, maybe, if I could be a part of it,” 

Laurel hugged Thea hard.  Thea hugged her back. Laurel let her out of the hug and smiled. “You are always welcome here. You want to meet your niece?” She asked. 

"I have a niece?" Thea asked with a tone of surprise. 

Laurel motioned for the baby. “Felicity will you go get Oliver?” She nodded and handed Laurel Olivia.  ”This, Thea, is Olivia Morgan Queen-Lance” She said and she saw Oliver out of the corner of her eye. 

She gave Thea Olivia and Thea held her with the most reverence she saw since Oliver first held her in the hospital. “Hey, Olivia, is it okay if I call you Livvy? I’m your auntie. And I’m sorry I wasn’t here for a long time, but I’m here now. And I’m gonna spoil you rotten, okay?” She asked.

Oliver stood by Laurel and smiled at the scene. “You were right. All she needed was time.”

"She looks great with Olivia in her arms. So happy," She said with a grin.

He kissed her on the temple, “Not as good as you look with Liv in your arms.” 

"Did you finish the swingset?" She asked him.

He shook his head. “Nah, this was a little more important.” 

"Family always is," 


	12. Oliver's Dream

The television droned as Laurel yawned. He looked over to her with soft eyes and smiled at him. “You know, you should probably get some sleep,” He told her. 

"Are you gonna leave me to go to bed?" She asked him as she yawned again.

He shook his head. “Not if you don’t want me to, babe. In fact, I’d love to come to bed with you.” 

"We can’t have sex, I’m too tired," She said as she snuggled into him and got comfy.

He nodded. “I can understand that. We’ll just go to sleep, although you’re pretty much there already,” He told her with a smile. She nodded and closed her eyes. He rolled his eyes and picked her up and took her to the bedroom down the hall. 

He laid her gently in bed and kneeled. She looked over to him with sleep in her eyes. “What do you want?” She asked in a hushed tone.

"What clothes do you want?" He asked. She made a grumbly sort of noise. Didn’t want to deal with that much though, he guessed. He sighed. He took his shirt off and he saw her eyes widen. "It’s not what you think," He told her as he smiled. "You need something to wear to bed and I sleep shirtless, okay?" He asked.

She nodded a little and dragged herself to a sitting position as she removed her own shirt and bra. 

Oliver tried to not look while she undid her pants and put his shirt on. He focused on shoving his own pants down and getting into the bed. “Come here,” He said as brought her closer to him and cuddled her. 

He turned light music just like he knew she liked and watched her as she fell right back to sleep in his arms. 

For a few minutes, he thought about what it was like on the island and how he would dream so often about moments exactly like this. If there was something that reminded him more of home than Laurel, he couldn’t name it off the top of his head. 

He wondered if she ever dreamed of him in that time. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she didn’t. He was terrible to her and he would spend his life trying to make sure that she knew that his mistakes were in the past and that she was the only girl he ever wanted anymore.

Eventually he fell asleep and clung to her closer. It was the best night of sleep that he had in a long time because he was sleeping and not even in the biblical sense sleeping, but just regular sleeping, being close to someone, allowing someone to be with him when he was most vulnerable. 

Laurel opened her eyes and rolled around in his arms and he brought her even closer and she smiled. He was cute when he slept. He looked so much like the boy who left on that boat.

She laid her head on his chest and ran her nails across his arm and smiled. It was the craziest night. She had the best dreams. She envisioned herself in the mayor’s office with Oliver. And she couldn’t quite tell if it was his name on the desk or hers, but she knew that they were both supposed to be there. 

"Don’t you ever sleep in like a normal person?" He croaked.

She rolled over to straddle him and kissed his face all over, “I  get up before noon like a normal person,” She said as she went to sit back.

"I wouldn’t do that," He warned her, but it was too late and the precious pressure Laurel gave him, made him moan a little. "You know, you are the only person who can get away with that," He told her as he rolled her over. "So did you sleep well?" He asked.

"I slept great. Had good dreams." She told him as she gave him a long kiss. "How about you?’ She asked.

He nodded and laughed. She looked down his abs which were contracting with his laughter. “The best sleep in six years,” He told her. “I also had a pretty good dream.” 

"Oh yeah?" She asked him. "You want to tell me about it?" 

He rolled over onto his back and gathered her up in his arms, “Do you promise that you won’t laugh at me when I tell you?” He asked. 

She nodded with that excited little look on her face that he could never resist. He could never tell her no, when she did that face.

"Well, I was in a suit and I was looking in a mirror and I really thought man, I looked good. And Diggle came to me and took me down this beautiful red aisle and I remember feeling nervous. But then you came down that aisle and I didn’t feel so nervous anymore. And I think I remember hearing Make You Feel My Love in the background," He told her.  He smiled when he saw her blush. "On the best sleep I’ve had in six years, I dreamed of our hypothetical wedding, what does that tell you?" He asked with the hugest smile on her face.

She kissed him again. His idiot face meant more to her than anyone else. Laurel didn’t see him opening the drawer to the nightstand and taking something out of it. 

"Laurel," He asked in between kisses, "Will you do me a favor and make my best dreams come true and marry me?" He asked as he opened the box and she saw a beautiful tiffany diamond ring. It probably cost thirty thousand dollars, and it was beautiful. 

"How did you know that you’d propose to me in bed?" She asked him. 

He shook his head. “I didn’t. I’ve been carrying that ring around for a week and a half, trying to figure out a good time. Dreaming of the wedding seemed like a pretty good sign. So will you?” He asked her.

She nodded. “It would be an honor to marry you, Oliver Jonas Queen.” 

"You complete the dream," He said as he put the ring on her finger, slid perfectly on, and he kissed her one more time. "And you always have." 


	13. American Canary Warrior

Laurel got an email from Felicity with a video clip and she looked at it, confused. American Ninja Warrior. Amused, she thought watching it once wouldn’t do any harm. 

What she saw astonished her, Kacy Catanzaro, the first woman to qualify for mount midoriyama, the big leagues of the parkour world. She got a look in her eye and smiled. She knew that she wanted Kacy Catanzaro to win and she wanted to go on that show too.  She wanted to show all those men that the women could do as fantastically.

Laurel picked up the phone and called Felicity, “I need a gym.” She told her.

"I thought you might say something about that, so I’ve already started compiling a list for you. Isn’t she really great? I mean I thought all of it. You’re gonna be fabulous." Felicity tittered into the phone, energetic from all the coffee.

Laurel chuckled and she heard the door open. “Yeah, I’m gonna check the list and I’ll call you back. You could totally join in on this thing, you know?” She asked.

Felicity laughed and looked down at the floor. “I’m  more of a behind the scenes girl, but tell me where you decide to go and I’ll be there to cheer you on, okay?” She asked.

"Sounds great, Bye Liss." Laurel said as she hung up and looked clicked through her emails again.  

She looked through the pages that Felicity gave her, each a little more ecstatic than the next.

It wasn’t long before Oliver came in. “Hey, what you working on? Ready to represent a free running gym?” He asked, with an eyebrow up. 

"Nope," She beamed at him, "I’m thinking about joining one." 

He snorted a little, “Why would you do that?” He asked as he reached over and picked up his phone. 

"Because Kacy Catanzaro qualified for American Ninja Warrior and I want to see if I can do it," She told him with a smile as she looked at the last gym page. Ultimately, she didn’t think that was the one she wanted, but it was good to look.

Oliver kissed her softly and with a little bit of a dismissive smile, looked her straight in the eye and laughed gently, “Honey, you know you don’t have to do that right? It’s not like the fight of feminism won’t march on without you. There will be more women on American Ninja Warrior.” He asked.

Laurel backed away from him. “No, I really think I do.” She told him. “Besides, I thought you would like this. It’s more training. Just makes me more effective in combat.”

He sighed. “Look, I know how competitive you are. And I don’t want your feelings to get hurt when you don’t win.” He told her.

"You know when you say things like that, it makes them a challenge, are you challenging me?" She asked him. "Because we can put a bet on this, that way no matter what I will win regardless of the outcome."

He looked at her with a little bit of a grin. “I like that attitude. So what do you want to bet?” He asked.

She thought about it for a few moments and looked around and she got a grin on her face. “Christmas party. If I win, we hold two. One, the charity fundraiser for the Starling City government. And then one for us, which includes all of my extended family.” She said as she pointed and smiled.

"What do I get if I win?" He asked.

She scrunched her nose and eyes for a second before opening up again, still with a funny face on her face, “You’ll get that winter holiday on the beach that you’ve been talking about for a couple of months.” She told him.

"Okay," He agreed, "Fair,"

Laurel nodded. “Good,”

"So what are the stakes?" He asked her.

She smirked as she realized that she could literally make this as easy or as hard as she wanted to. And eh would take it. Because he was sure of a sure thing and that would be his downfall. “We both train at Super Dragon free run and parkour, start with a personal trainer for a few months, and then keep doing it on our own, once we’ve got it figured out.  We’ll both enter to American Ninja Warrior and whoever goes further wins.”

"You are going down, Laur." He said with a smile as he leaned in to kiss her.

She grinned up at him and kissed him back. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Ol. We start at Super Dragon tomorrow.” She told him. 

He left the room and she shook her head as she picked up her cell phone and called Sara. “Laurel, what’s up?” She asked, with a bit of worry in her voice.

"Oh, I just need some help." She said as she smirked into her phone. 

Sara felt confused. “Okay, what do you need help with?” She asked, a bit slowly.

"I need you to help me win American Ninja Warrior. Ollie doesn’t think I can do it, and I have a big charity event on the line for it." She said.

Sara rolled her eyes. “He challenged you.” 

"He challenged me." 

Sara shook her head at Oliver. “You know, you don’t really need my help. You’ve always known where to hit him where it hurts.” She said.

"Just thought I should get some confirmation, but it would be great to get you and Nyssa to come down and watch us when we go for our qualifiers." 

Sara chuckled. “You tell me when they are and I’ll make sure we’re there. Besides Nyssa will enjoy you handing Oliver’s ass to him.”

"I’m glad you have faith in me," She said. Sara laughed out loud and Laurel was confused. "What is so funny?" 

Sara’s laughter settled, “Oliver does believe in you. He just knows how to push your buttons, babe.” 

"So you’re saying?" Laurel asked. "That he wanted to throw me my charity event?"

Sara nodded and Laurel could hear her hair crinkle through the phone. “That man can see your excitement a mile away. If he can peak it just a little more, he’ll try to.” 

"You’re saying he’s a dick on purpose?" Laurel smiled.

"Yep," Sara chuckled a little bit about the whole thing. "And I think it’s a little bit unfair to say he’s a dick. He’s a little underhanded. He never says you can’t do it. just gently suggests it, so you’ll put your best foot forward. Because come on, you want to prove to him you’re the best." 

Laurel nodded a little bit. Sara wasn’t wrong. Oliver was the person she proved everything to. Even when he wasn’t there. Getting into Law School, she told his grave. “I’ll see you at the Qualifiers?”

"See you at the Qualifiers." 


	14. Brand New Rules

Laurel and Oliver came back to the cave, smiling at each other. They were sweaty and they dealt with a lot of bad guys, but that was the last thing on their minds as they returned.

"They’re gonna kill us if they see," Felicity said as she pulled away from Roy’s kisses.

He shook his head and dived back in for another kiss. “What’s the worst that he can do? Laurel will just hold him back. She loves all this true love crime fighting business,” He said with a bit of a laugh.

"Are you so sure about that?" She asked.

He nodded. “Yes, and you just need to relax. No one’s going to find out,” He told Felicity, “Besides, it’s not like we’re ashamed of it, right?” He asked her.

She shook her head hard. “Of course not. I’m not ashamed of you. You’re my great superhero boyfriend. Are you ashamed of me?” She asked as she sat straighter than she had before.

"Why would I ever be ashamed of you?" He asked. "You’re the hottest girl I know."

She snorted a little. “Come on, you dated Thea. You don’t have to lie to me. I’m a big girl. I can handle it. I’m not the prettiest girl in the world. And I’m certainly not the toughest, but you love me anyway, okay, I get it.” She said as she cupped his face.

"Okay, so can you just relax, no one is ever going to find us. You just need to chill," He said as he pushed her back in her chair and kissed her.

Little did they know that he had activated Laurel and Oliver’s comm devices again, by inadvertently pushing one of the buttons around Felicity’s desk.

And what Laurel and Oliver got was an earful of kissing noises that they didn’t hear because they were a little busy with their own kissing their way back to the cave.

"Oh god, Roy, we should probably take this somewhere else. Not in my chair at the very least. Not that I don’t like it in my chair, but seriously," Felicity said.

Oliver and Laurel broke away and looked at each other and then listened more intently. “Um, are you guys okay?” Laurel asked through the comm device.

Felicity froze. “Oh, god, how much have you guys heard?” She asked.

Oliver scowled, “Enough that we’ll talk about it when we get back to the cave,” He grumbled.

"Shit," Felicity said as she turned the comm devices off and looked to Roy. "Now, we’re in trouble."

He shrugged. “Maybe it won’t be so bad. You obviously have no practice breaking any of the rules.”

"No, I don’t; I’m a good girl. I don’t break the rules. Seriously, breaking the law is one of those things that hurts me deeply," She told him as a glum look appeared on her face.

He got in front of her chair and made her look at him. “Look, you’re gonna be fine, okay? I’m not gonna let him do anything to you, okay?” Roy told her.

"You know you can’t kill them right?" Laurel asked Oliver as she took his hand while he tried to stomp off quite angrily.

He shook his head. He didn’t want to admit what he was feeling and so they couldn’t either. “They broke the rules,”

"Like we didn’t?" She asked him.

He blew out a breath and looked into Laurel’s eyes. “It’s different with you and me.”

"It’s really not," Laurel told him as she brushed her fingers through the side of his hair. "Look, when we go into battle with Diggle and Roy and you and I are together. That’s a liability. You are left with the choice of love or the mission. And we’re risking that. It’s okay, because we’ve decided that risk is okay, but it’s the same thing that you’re trying to keep them from. You’re just worried that she’ll choose Roy over the mission." She told him as she shushed him.

He looked away from her and tried not to smile at her. He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. Because that meant admitting that he was wrong and not killing Roy for trying to date every girl he knew.

As Oliver and Laurel came into the cave, walking hand and hand, they saw Roy and Felicity sitting a bit apart.

"You don’t have to look like you’re going to the guillotine," Laurel laughed a little. "You’re not in trouble." She said with a smile.

Felicity looked up from her hands and looked to Oliver with her brows knitted. “I thought for sure that those were not going to be the words out of your mouth. I thought it was going to be a lot of yelling of how reckless it is dating team members.”

"You already know the risks," He sighed as he looked to Felicity. "And you guys have been dating behind our backs. You’ve been breaking the rules that we all put down for the safety of the team. But I suppose it’s not exactly fair to you to make you follow a rule that I haven’t been following exactly," He told her.

Roy and Felicity exchanged a glance and Felicity smiled a little. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She asked.

"We’re dating…again." Laurel said as she laughed and hugged her arm around Oliver.

Oliver scowled again though, “Roy, if you steal her from me, I swear to god, I will break your face in a way that will be especially memorable.” He said as he bared his teeth.  

"I’m not anybody’s to steal," Laurel said as she hit him with her hip and smiled at him. She wouldn’t tell him, but she liked his little bit of possessiveness.

Roy looked at Laurel and smiled. “I’m glad you’re both happy. Now, I’m gonna go see my girl, if that’s alright with you,” He said with a grin as he ran and picked her up.


	15. A Different Kind of Strength

"Hey, Laurel. Oliver. We have a problem," Felicity told them as all of her screens popped up with the same message.

Oliver and Laurel saw the message and they knew it wasn’t good. “What happened now?” Laurel asked her.

"Slade escaped." Felicity said as she read further into the message.

Laurel looked to Oliver and nodded. “Looks like it’s time for a suit up.” She told him as she took her Canary costume out of the glass case that was next to her.

"Are you insane, Laurel?" He asked as started stripping off her shoes and went into the back where she could change. "You’re not going out there."

"Oh, yes, I am." Laurel told him as she kissed his forehead. "You can’t go out there alone. I am going with you. No arguments. I’m not letting you fight him all by your lonesome, not gonna happen."

He rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to protect you, Laurel. I barely got you out of there alive last time. You can’t go back in there.”

"I’m not asking, Oliver. You’re gonna have to knock me out and lock me in a cage if you want me to stay back and we both know you’re not very good at that. At least with me." She said as she bared her teeth. She took her top off and pushed her skirt down. "Besides, I’m not the person he kidnapped last time." She said, with a grin.

There was a small knock at the door and Laurel, uninhibited, the confidence of the superstar superheroine she was, walked over, “What’s going on?” She asked as she opened the door a little.

Felicity blinked as he saw Oliver practically drool over Laurel’s body. With good reason. She had a rocking body which made her tingle in the right places. Felicity had never considered feelings for ladies, but Laurel, well, she was different. Felicity cleared her throat. “Your dad called. There’s some type of emergency at the courthouse. He’d like you to come as soon as you can. Preferably as his daughter.” She said as she coughed and walked back over to her chair.

Laurel looked over to Oliver who was grinning a little. “Don’t think this is over. I’m still going out with you.” She said as she picked up her clothes and put them back on and put her costume in her bag. “Wait for me?”

"Nope," He said. "But take a comm and I’ll tell you where I am, okay? It would be good to have backup." He smiled as he kissed her on the lips and she kissed back. "Oh," He pulled back from the kiss. "Nice undies."

"I thought you might enjoy the show. Too bad it had to get cut early," She said as she stuck her tongue out at him and left him with his jaw on the floor and she brushed on by and got a comm from Felicity and she winked over to Oliver.

Laurel drove her car as fast as she could to the courthouse without technically breaking any laws. When she got there, she saw her dad’s cop car and the door opened. She grabbed her bag and ran into the courthouse. “Dad, What’s going on?” She asked into the darkness.

"Laurel, please baby, don’t come in here. You’re playing right into him. I’ll be fine sweetheart," He pleaded and then there was a loud thunk. He sounded like he was in pain. She didn’t know how he got here in pain, but she needed to get him out of her.

She ran to the area she heard her Dad’s voice come from and with a sudden shock and horror, she looked up to find exactly what kind of emergency needed her.

"Excellent," A voice growled. "So very predictable with your love. That’s the thing about you people. So easily swayed by it." Another thump.

Back at the lair, Oliver looked at his watch as Felicity tried to track Slade through the chip that ARGUS had put in him, in case he ever got out. “Bad news is he managed to scramble the signal for ARGUS’s people.” Felicity said to him.

"Is there possible good news at this juncture?" He asked Felicity as he paced back and forth and looked over her shoulder.

She clacked her keys and held her tongue in between her teeth as she focused totally on her screen with her set jaw and straight posture back in her chair. “Yes,” Felicity said as she beamed and leaned in to her computer a little more. “I managed to figure out he scrambled it and unscrambled it and he is at….” And the color fell away from her face. “Oh, no.”

He knew what that Oh, no meant and his chest tightened and he felt the pain and he tried to breath through it. It was hard, but he had too. He licked his lips, “Where is he, Felicity?” He asked, even though he had a feeling he already knew.

Felicity looked over to her computer and looked to him. “Oliver,” She said and that was all he needed to know.

"Dammit." He said as he punched the desk, "I should have seen this coming." He raised his voice.

Felicity stood up from her chair and stood in a stance that suggested no shit to be taken right now. “Go suit up. Now. And go bring our girl back.” She told him. “And then for god sakes, tell her how you feel,”

He looked at Felicity in shock and she shrugged. He went to the courthouse and saw both cars and went inside and looked around.  He didn’t see anything until he came upon Laurel in the ope foyer below a big set of double stairs. 

Slade dropped down and held a sword to Laurel’s throat. “Come any closer and I’ll open her throat,” He said as he bared his teeth. 

"Stand still, okay, Laurel? Just stand still?" He asked as he looked into her eyes. She didn’t move, but she moved her eyes up and down to indicate that she heard him and was calm. "This isn’t her fight and it never was," Oliver growled. 

Slade clucked at him. “It is her fight. It was always her fight. You lied to me. You lied to me so you could cripple me. But I shan’t be making that mistake again Queen, I’m gonna slit the throat of your pretty bird. Her blood will be on your hands and at your feet.”

"It won’t bring her back. Shado. It won’t bring her back. That guilt you have. It’s not your fault she died. It’s not Oliver’s either." Laurel said as she stood there still. Oliver frowned and bit his lip.  His girl. His brows knitted. 

Amazingly, Slade stopped for a second. “I cannot believe you have faith in that. You weren’t there. He chose Sara. He chose Sara over Shado, just like he chose Sara over you. Aren’t you angry at them, little girl? Don’t you understand?” He asked.

"You can’t make that hurt go away by killing me. Destruction won’t bring the dead back. Believe me, Slade," She said. "You can get through this. She’d want you to be happy. But she’d also want you to get help. She wouldn’t want the killing, okay?" She asked him. 

Slade tightened his grip, “Why should I believe you?” He asked, a little desperate.

"Because I’ve been there," Laurel told him. "I wanted the whole world to burn to because I lost Tommy. I lost Tommy and then Oliver went back to Lian Yu. And everything was terrible." She told him. "But hurting won’t make her come back." She said

He took the sword away from her neck and Laurel put her hand on his face, a sign that she was not afraid of him. “You don’t deserve to be locked in a cage. But we do need to get you some help,” She told him.

"She would have liked you," Slade said with a little smile. "She saw the best in that stringbean too."

Oliver looked amazed at the scene. “I love you,” He said as wrapped his arms around Laurel. 

She smiled. “I know.” 

She made a call and got him back to ARGUS with the caveat that he was to get a room somewhere not on Lian Yu and he was to get some therapeutic help. Laurel once again clasped his shoulder and nodded to him. She knew what it was like to feel like a monster. And the only way you stopped people from being monsters was by loving them. 

"How did you know to do that with him?" Oliver asked as Slade was taken out of the courthouse.

"Cause I’d done before. It worked pretty well. You just have to remind people of their humanity. That it’s normal to feel it. And it’s okay to feel it." She shrugged at him. 

He looked to her. “That was dangerous you know. You had no weapon. Slade could have killed you.” 

She shrugged. “Not all strength is brute strength. And I knew what he’d been through. All he needed to see was that you could come out on the other side.”


	16. Mason Jar of Cranes

He sat there at her bedside, looking at the machines. She looked terrible hooked up to all of them. He held her hand and closed his eyes and whispered into her hand. 

Felicity knew he’d been there for days. Diggle came and brought him food at meal times, but he never got anything out of him. Oliver just sat there quietly and looked at her in the bed. 

Comas were tough, Felicity knew that. Seeing him sitting there, longing for her touch, she softened her features and slowly opened the door, trying not to make too much noise when she came in. She didn’t want him to quite hear her yet. She saw another chair and put her purse and her jacket in it and picked the whole thing up and set it beside him.

They stayed there, silent for a few minutes. “Do you think she’s going to wake up?” He asked brokenly, breaking the silence they had going.

"Yeah," She said after a minute and looked at Laurel, her body healing the damage slowly, but she could see the progress from the last time she’d been in.  "She’s a fighter. And she’s always gonna fight to come back to you." She whispered to him.

He nodded and touched Laurel’s face. “I just wish there was a sign that she was really coming back. All we have now is waiting. And I’ve never been good at that.” He sighed and closed his eyes. 

Grief was hard. And he didn’t know how to deal with the possibility she might never be coming back. Felicity knew that. And given that Laurel was sort of the go to expert on this and they didn’t even have her to help him through it, she figured she should divert his attention.

"Can you tell me the first time you knew you were in love with her?" Felicity asked.

He looked over to her as his eyes left Laurel, red with a full set of luggage underneath them. “Why?” He asked.

She shook her head. “Just humor me okay?” She asked him.

"The first time I knew I was in love with her with her was on my eighteenth birthday. She made me this jar of little origami cranes. I mean it was like a mason jar full of these things, that could fit on like maybe a quarter. And it doesn’t seem that extravagant when you think about it. But she’d been thinking about what to give me for like four months and she never settled on anything.

"And I told her that it was okay, that I was sure that I was going to love whatever she got me. I told her if she just gave me a hug on my birthday I would love it, that we didn’t have to do the gift giving. But she made all of these paper cranes. 

"It’s funny because I remarked on it once, we were in an art class doing bigger ones, probably a year and a half before. And she was terrible at it. Paperfolding wasn’t her strong suit. She wasn’t used to being terrible at anything. She was good at so many things. And this one thing that I said I loved and she was terrible at, she learned how to do it for me. 

"And she went further then that, because she learned how to make them small. And I mean that takes a lot of effort. Of course, she wrapped this mason jar in this silly harry potter paper. It was a joke thing for us. Harry Potter was something that Tommy, Laurel, and I all watched and read together. But I took the paper off this mason jar and I saw all of these little birds and I knew how much she cared.

"I remember looking into her eyes and falling in love with her that day. And she was perfect. And I remember thinking how I would never ever ever be good enough for this girl. But there she was perfect and wonderful and in that moment, I didn’t care that I was never going to be good enough, because she made me want to try to be good enough for her. If she could make me a zillion little cranes, which no doubt gave her papercuts and frustrated her to know end, she went through all that pain for me, I could do that same for her." He said as he leaned forward and touched Laurel’s face.

Felicity saw the soft expression on his face and smiled at the glow that his love for Laurel gave him. “Is that why you kept that mason jar of cranes next to your arrow suit for the longest time? To remind you of her? To remind you of what you were fighting for?” She asked him.

He nodded as he took Laurel’s hand and looked down at her beautiful body. “And now, it sits in our bedroom, on my nightstand, because even when she’s not in my bed when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see reminds me of how lucky I am that she is in my life. That she would have me.” His voice cracked and she saw the tears run down his face.

And just as he was about to pull his hand away from Laurel’s and wipe his tears, against all odds, she squeezed it and croaked. “You are damn lucky to have me,” as she opened her eyes slightly. 

"Baby," He said as he practically melted into her side, "I didn’t think I would ever get you back."

Laurel tried to shrug. “Death has got nothing on the great fighting Lances,” She told him as her lips turned up a little and Felicity gave them a moment alone. This would be one of the only moments alone they got for a while, and she wanted them to savor it.

She looked for a doctor in the hallway and saw none. She went down to the to the big nurse’s desk at the front of the department and smiled. “Dinah Laurel Lance just woke up,” She told the nurse.

"I told that boy all he needed to do was wait," The nurse said as she got on the phone and called for a doctor who came rushing out of the other hall and down the one she just came out of. "Poor boy was wasting away with love." 

"He wanted to be with her." Felicity shrugged.

The nurse shook her head. “Next time he should want to be alive for her. But your friend did a pretty good job of keeping him alive for her.”


	17. Another Reunion

Laurel patted Quentin’s hand which was on his chest and smiled sadly, “You’re gonna be fine, you know that? People came back all the time. And that boy of yours, he’s resilient. Don’t give up, okay?” He asked her with a little bit of a smile.

"How can you say that?" Laurel asked as she looked at him. "You almost died trying to save him and for what? He still got kidnapped. He got kidnapped by terrorists." She cried.

He shook his head. “I know I am not Oliver Queen’s biggest fan, but that boy loves you. And he’ll always try to come back to you. It’s one of the only things that he and I can agree on.” He said. The nurse came in and smiled to him and Laurel smiled to the nurse.

"How’s my favorite patient doing?" The nurse cooed.

Laurel raised an eyebrow at him.

"It’s not what you think, I promise. When we have more time I will gross you out with the details of my love life, okay, kid?" He asked.

Laurel shook her head and smiled at him, “Oh, sure it’s not. Well, I don’t want to keep the nurse from her favorite patient. I should probably go do some work anyway,” She told him. 

She stepped out of Quentin’s room and into the hallway and she saw a bunch of doctors rush to the other side. They were murmuring to themselves and she thought nothing of it. Maybe someone was dying. That’s the kind of thing that was not uncommon in a hospital and she walked in the opposite direction.

Felicity appeared at the crossway. “Oh my god, I’m so glad you are predictable.” She said, out of breath.

"Thank you, I think?" Laurel asked her, not really sure whether take that as a compliment or an insult. "What do you need, Liss?" She asked.

Felicity looked at her and realized she didn’t know. “That way, there’s someone who needs your legal help, urgent. They had their home broken into by some rich guy and now their being sued for defamation by the rich people,” She told her.

"That sounds really fucking flimsy." Laurel said, deadpan, "But knowing rich people, it’s not the most unlikely thing I’ve ever heard, so that way, where all doctors went?" She asked.

"Yep, that way. Where all the doctors went. I forgot to mention that the rich guy had thugs that beat this person within an inch of their life. Stupid rich people who only want what they want," Felicity said as she attempted to embellish her story.

Laurel sighed as she looked down at her watch. She had a little bit of time before she had to be home to get ready for work. “Okay, I’m going,” She said as she rounded the corner. 

And then there was some commotion coming out of a room as a door opened. “I’m leaving, I’m fine, I promise. I’ll work with the authorities as soon as I can, I just want to take a shower at my own home,” He told the doctors as they tried to measure things and he backed.

He looked down the hall and he saw her. 

And she saw him. Oliver Queen.

"Hi Laur," He said.

She blinked at him. “Say it again.” 

"What?" He asked. 

She shook her head, “Say it again.” 

"Hi Laur," He told her with a smile.

She ran to him and jumped into his arms and she cried a little bit. “I didn’t ever think I was going to get you back. Terrorists. God, they’re the worst.” She told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"I know," Oliver said as he just held her. God, she felt so good in his arms. He thought about her everyday. He always thought about her everyday.

She looked at him in the eye and leaned her forehead on his. “I can’t believe you’re here,” She told him. She shook her head. “Are you okay?” 

"I am now," Oliver whispered to her.

She smiled. “I’d like to give you a kiss now,” She told him. 

"I would like for you to kiss me. Show me that this isn’t just a really good dream. Because I could never experience your kiss as beautifully even in my best dreams." 

She took his face in her hands and he kissed him gently. He tasted exactly the same as he did before. 

He pulled away and smiled to her. “God, you don’t know how much I’ve wanted to do that. God, I missed you.” He told her as he rubbed his nose against hers. “You’re wearing your engagement ring.” 

"Yeah," She whispered to him. "It made me feel closer to you." 

He kissed her because he knew she hated wearing rings. She never wore it after the pictures were taken and she told everyone. He actually had a necklace chain made to clip it on, so she could wear the thing more often, but even then, she didn’t really like to wear it. 

But in a time when she couldn’t see him everyday, she wore his engagement ring. “We should get you home so you can take that shower.” She told him.

"Don’t you have work?" He asked with a little bit of a laugh, "You had your I’m pissed off with righteousness face when you came this way," 

She shook her head. “Fuck work, right now, I love you and I want to go home with you. Besides, I’m pretty sure Felicity called work before I saw you,” 

"Diggle brought the car around. The one time that he’s literally willing to play the black driver." He told her.

She nuzzled his nose. “Well, then you should probably put me down,” She told him as unhooked her legs from the waist and looked down at the floor.

He shook his head, “You know, I don’t really feel like it,” He told her as he rearranged her into a bridal position. “Let’s go home, Mrs. Queen.”

"Mrs. Queen-Lance, Mr. Queen-Lance," She told him as she stuck her tongue out at him. 

They walked out of the hospital and Diggle shook his head as he laughed. “I should have figured it was her that was keeping you held up. Isn’t it great to see him, Laurel?” Diggle asked her.

"You have no idea," Laurel told him with the biggest smile on her face as the door to the car was opened and Laurel was lowered into it. "You never give up, do you?" She asked Oliver.

"For you," Oliver said. "I would literally walk through the seven levels of hell and then I would cross to the ends of earth." He told her. 


	18. Put the Words Back

"Why don’t you want to go to the doctor?" He asked as he narrowed his eyes and ran his hand across his hair. "Going to the doctor would be great, we want to have a baby and it’s been three months of trying. Something has to be up." 

Laurel adjusted her skirt shirt to fit better and stepped back into the bathroom. “I just don’t want to go, okay? And you can’t force me to go. We just need to wait a little longer.” 

"You were the one who wanted to have a baby in the first place, Laurel. I don’t see what the big deal is. If you want it so badly, we need to see what’s wrong so that you can have a baby," And as he shouted those words, he got quiet and his eyes widened to the size of saucers as he heard what he said.

Laurel pushed right past as her nostrils flared and her vision became blurry as she slammed the door and he heard the car drive off. 

"Dammit," He said as he knocked his fist against a table.

It started to storm and she wasn’t back and he called her phone. She didn’t pick up.  ”Hey, Laur. I know, I’m stupid. I said a stupid fucked up thing. And I’m sorry, I just need to know you’re safe okay? Please call me back. I promise, we’ll work this out. I’m sorry, okay?” He asked into the phone and then hung up.

He hoped he would hear from her, but he didn’t and as the rain got harder, his eyes watered and he sat there in silence looking at their front door, hoping she would come back and tell him that he’d been an ass, but that they would deal with it and they could figure it out. 

A wave of nausea hit when he heard the first thunder crack and he called again. “Laurel, baby, please come home. It’s not safe for you to be out there alone. And I’m sorry for what I did, I just I can’t stand the thought of losing you baby. I was thoughtless when I said those words. I just want you to have everything you want, just please, come home,” His voice cracked into the phone. 

He wiped his nose and look between the phone and the door and hoped he would hear from her soon. 

His phone rang and he looked down with excitement to see Diggle’s face. Not that Diggle wasn’t welcome, but well, when you’re looking for your wife to be who walked out on you, your best friend was a little bit of a let down. “Hey,” Oliver said as he tried to hide that he’d be crying. “What’s up?” He asked.

"Are you okay?" Diggle asked, "You sound sick or something." 

Oliver sighed and realized it was probably best just to get it over with. “I’m waiting for Laurel to come back. She left after I yelled about getting her a doctor’s appointment because we need to see what’s wrong with us having a kid, and well, I’ve haven’t seen from or heard from her since. I was stupid man. I fucked it up real bad with her.” 

"Dude," Diggle laughed a little. "God, that girl has you wrapped around her little finger." 

Oliver managed to laugh a little too. “I’d gladly be wrapped around her finger if she had me back. I wouldn’t expect her too though. I realize what I said was a shitty thing to say. I knew it the second the words came out of my mouth.”

"I’m coming home," Laurel’s voice.

Oliver’s brows knitted together. “Diggle? Did you plan this with her?” He asked.

Diggle cackled. “No, but I sure wish I had. Because you should have heard yourself. Man, I should have put that on tape. Because no one could think you are the lady’s man the tabloid’s sells if they heard how fucking head over heels you are for that girl.” He said, but then he stopped laughing and smiled. “But she’s coming back. She’s safe,” He told Oliver and it was probably the best thing he could have realized.

Laurel’s car stopped in front of the Queen Mansion and she opened the door and he ran to take her in his arms. “You realize that I love you, right? And that I was scared like hell about you in that storm?” He asked as he kissed all over her face.  

She took his face in her hands. “I’m sorry for how I acted.” She whispered as she frowned a little.

He saw the expression on her face and he gave her a wide smile and ran his hand over her hair, “Why are you apologizing. I was the one who said the stupid thing. You don’t need to apologize. You’re fine. You’re safe. That’s the important part,” He said as he held her closer.

But she pushed away from him and looked him in the eye. “It wasn’t entirely your fault. If I hadn’t been so adamant about not going, you wouldn’t have said that. It would have been okay. I’m in this just as much as you,” She told him.

"Why were you so adamant?" He asked as his brows knitted together. 

She picked at his buttons and looked up to his face and then back down to the buttons. She let out a breath, “I’m scared, Ollie. What if I’m never able to get pregnant?” She asked him in a voice that could be barely be heard.

He realized that having this baby was important and as much as he knew he would love this baby, this was a statement of Laurel’s maternal instinct and she was very afraid of not being able to have children. “Look, if you can’t have children. I’m not leaving you. I know you think about it. I know that’s part of this. But I love you, Dinah Laurel Lance and nothing is ever gonna change that. And second off, if we can’t have one of our own, well then, we’ll adopt and we’ll still be a family,” 

She hugged him and let the tears roll down her face a little. “You know for a playboy billionaire, you can be pretty sweet sometimes.” She told him with the barest of smiles.

He shook his head and smiled. “Yep, but only for the woman who has me wrapped around her little finger. And I’m proud to be that, baby. God, I don’t know what I would do without you.” 


	19. On an Island With You

On Lian Yu, Laurel sat on the beach. 

He looked at her. She’d stayed like that for hours. Unfortunately, no one knew where they were and they couldn’t easily just radio out to Diggle or Felicity, so they had to make it off the island themselves. 

There was no one else but the two of them. And yeah, there was Slade’s previous cage, the one that Laurel convinced them to take him out of, but he doubted that people were looking at those cameras anymore. No reason to, really.

He went back to the fuselage and made sure that everything was set up for them there. It was still where he felt the most safe on Lian Yu and there was probably nothing that could make him feel safer.

Oliver just wished that Laurel didn’t have to be here with him. Being here, it wasn’t something he ever wanted for her, because she was better than this place. Better than the time he spent repenting all of the shitty things he did to her. Better than all the killing.  

He sighed. Didn’t matter now. She was here. And they were going to be here for at least a couple of days, before he could figure out how to get him back off the island. 

He also had no doubt that after a couple of days, their friends would notice something was up and try to come and get them. He never doubted Felicity in that regard.

He went back to the beach when he realized the sun was setting soon and looked and saw her still in that same spot, though she had taken off her boots and sat them next to herself. 

He went and sat next to her and she nodded to him as she looked out across the ocean. 

"What are you thinking about?" He asked her.

She smiled a little. “I always wondered what it was like here. I thought about you here on this island and I wondered about it. I wondered how you survived all of it. I wondered what it was like and now that I see it. I get it.” She said.  Her tone suggested she was tired, but he didn’t see that in her eyes. He saw someone content with where they were, but definitely not unalert.

"You know, I got off this island because of you." He told her as he looked across the ocean and saw the place for the first time through new eyes. It wasn’t so bad with her here. Maybe that was what it was about. Purgatory wasn’t terrible if you had someone you loved to share it with.

She shrugged. “You learned to fight and kill here. You learned you had value in a way that I could never give to you,” She sighed. “Why would I be the thing to bring you home?” She put her head on his shoulder and let out a breath. 

He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. She didn’t realize how important she was. Through everything. “Because you never gave up trying to get me to see my worth.” He said as he kissed her shoulder. “You gave me hope, I could be a better man. The man I always wanted to be for you.”

She looked to him and not across the stupid ocean and smiled, that smile could kill kings and cure cancer he though, “You were always the man I wanted. I knew who you were back then.” 

"I wasn’t my best self back then, and even if you knew it and accepted it. I wanted to be a better man for you. Okay?" He asked as he cupped her cheek. He looked over across the ocean and back to her and smiled. "I owe so much of who I am to you. And that includes getting off this island." He told her.

She looked over the ocean once more and sighed. “I always wondered what it would be like if I had gone on that boat with you. I wondered if we would have survived this,” 

"I think we would have," He told her as he grinned.

She looked to him with a grin, “What makes you think that?” She asked.

He kissed her as he laid her out on the beach. “Because when I’m with you I can survive anything,” He told her and his grinned widened. 

She blushed and looked to him and then looked back behind her through the forest of the island and then back to him. “So, it’s gonna get dark soon, you have any suggestions on where we should go?” She asked him.

"Well, I got the fuselage set up, has all of our stuff and everything." He said as he stood up and held out a hand to help her up.

She popped up with his help.  ”That’s where you stayed right?” She asked him. 

"Yes," He said.

She nodded. “That sounds good for the plan I have. So which way?” She asked as she started the trek into the forest and he started behind her. 

"Plan?" He asked with a little bit of an eyebrow raise.

She nodded to him and grinned a little wider too. She wasn’t given anything away but he could read between the lines and her plans were always amazing.

Maybe they weren’t perfect. Maybe they would never be. But the thing about love is that it didn’t need perfection. It needed work. Lian Yu forced him into focus during the five years he was gone, forced him to realize what he’d done. And with her here, it made him realize that trekking through the forest, hot and sweaty with her, it seemed like a normal tuesday afternoon and made him happy, just because she was there and she loved him.

And dammit, he loved her through it all. It was hell and hard work and clawing through an ocean to get to her, but he did it, because he wanted her. He wanted her and no one else. 


	20. Graveyard Solace

Laurel got up, but just barely. She hated getting up right now. There really wasn’t any point in it now. Oliver was gone. Dead again. Dead always. She shouldn’t have let herself get to close, she scolded, what felt like everyday, but it didn’t matter. What was done had been done.

A knock was at the door. 

"Come in," Laurel groaned as she looked at the open bathroom and remembered how he would stand right there as she got up. He would shave and she would watch him with the dopiest grin.

Felicity sighed as she saw the sight of gorgeous Laurel with no makeup on, still in bed, practically dead herself. “It’s time to get up, girl,” Felicity said as she sat beside her.

"What’s the point?" Laurel asked, never taking her eyes away from the bathroom.

"You and Thea are going to his grave today, remember? You’re gonna put flowers on it and bond?" She asked. 

"Why did she send you instead of coming herself?" Laurel asked as she took her eyes finally away from the bathroom and looked to Felicity for the first time.

Felicity saw the ruddy red eyes of a woman who cried herself to sleep every night. She saw the bags underneath and the crud that hadn’t been swiped away. “She sent me because she didn’t want to see you like this. Now please, jut get up and get out of this bed for her. I don’t care if you come right back home and get back in it, but please, do this for her.” 

Laurel groaned as she sat up in bed and groaned. Nothing mattered anymore. She just didn’t want to be a person. She didn’t want to deal with any of this. But she would. She sighed and went into the bathroom and took a shower. 

Felicity put clothes on the bed and went to work on making coffee. It would be good for Laurel to visit Oliver’s grave. She might get a little bit of solace from it. 

Laurel came in about half an hour later and poured her coffee into a travel mug and left with Felicity behind her, making sure to lock up. 

She drove to the cemetery where Oliver’s new grave was and smiled at Thea. “You know, we didn’t have to do this. It would have been okay to just watch a movie,” Thea said to her.

"Do you want to leave?" Laurel asked, with a little bit of hope seeping into her voice. She didn’t want to deal with the people who would inevitably gawk at them like they were animals at a zoo. They were just people who lost loved ones, same as everybody else. 

Thea shook her head. “We’re already here. We might as well do it. If we don’t I’m probably not gonna be this courageous again for awhile.”

Laurel took Thea’s hand in hers, flowers in the other and they went to the grave.  They went to the buried coffin that held something of his essence.

And seeing it, Laurel didn’t feel anything. It made her angry not to feel anything. He was dead. She loved him. But she couldn’t feel his presence anymore. She put the flowers on and watched Thea mumbled at it and she stood there, a line for lips, and scowled at the grave with contempt. How could it make her feel nothing?

"I can’t do this," Thea sobbed into her jacket.

She shushed Thea. “It’s gonna be okay. No one expects you to. Go home and watch a good movie, okay? I just have a few words for the grave.”

"Are you sure? I can wait…." Thea said as she looked up to Laurel.

Laurel shook her head. “I need to do this one on my own.”

"Okay," Thea said. "Just call me when you’re done. We’ll do something fun." She said as she squeezed Laurel’s hand. Laurel nodded and nodded over to the car where Thea should be going to. 

As soon as Thea was gone, she put her hand up quickly up to her face and wiped the tears away from her face. “I hate you, Oliver Jonas Queen. You said you wouldn’t abandon us again. And that’s what you did. You did it and I hate you. And I hate that I spent weeks avoiding doing this and your stupid grave makes me feel nothing. It’s not like you’re even there. It’s just like you’re gone.

"And you’re not supposed to be gone. Your ghost presence should be making me crazy. But no, you’re not even an energy around here. I spent so long in bed because I couldn’t bear the thought of you gone forever. And now are. And I have to live my life. And I have to make sure your sister gets through it.

"I thought coming here would help me because it would be where you were. And I could get a little solace from the sadness. But no. You’re gone. You’re really gone. And Felicity is right. I can’t let you control my life anymore. I have to start living again. Just like I did before. God dammit, you couldn’t have even given me a little bit of solace in your death, could you? Annoying me from the afterlife, that’s your mission? Well you’re doing a bang up job of it. Mostly, I just hate that I don’t hate you. I still want you." 

"You still want me even after I faked my own death?" He asked as he stepped out from behind a tree and looked at her.

She saw him and she looked down at the grave and she looked back at him.  ”You cannot. No. I buried you. I buried you and I took care of your sister,” Her voice quaked as brought a shaky hand up to her mouth and covered mouth.

She took a step toward him and he nodded and then it turned into a run and she hugged him and he wasn’t just a figment like before. She shook in his arms and he was wracked with a cry too. “God, I missed you so much.” 

"Don’t ever die on me again." She said through the tears and closed her eyes and just felt him in her arms, thankful that he was holding her because she was pretty sure her balance was shot. 

He laughed. “I promise next time, the death is you.” He said as he shook his head.

"How did you know I’d be here?" She asked as she looked up to him. 

He shrugged. “Sara said that Thea wanted to come today. I knew you would never let Thea go alone. You’re too good for that, always.” 

"And I’ll be forever in love with you." She said as she nuzzled into his chest.

He nodded. “And I’ll always be in love with you. Because it’s always and forever. It’s all with you.” 

"Always and forever," She said hooking pinkies with him. "Even if it makes us crazy."

"Even if it makes us crazy." He said, and hooked her pinky and squeezed.

She looked to him. “We have to tell Thea.”

"Can it wait?" He asked.

She shook her head. “No, it really can’t.”

"Well, then, let’s go tell my sister." He said as he put her down on her feet and held his hand out. She grabbed his hand and smiled. Turned out, going to his grave gave her the answer she needed. Just not in the way she thought it would. 


	21. Room Service

"Why did we have to come again?" Oliver asked as they stood at the hotel lobby desk and she smiled to the receptionist.

She turned to Oliver and he knew he was in trouble, because she kept that fake smile plastered on her face. “Because if I’m gonna keep my job as the District Attorney for Starling City, sometimes I have to come to legal conferences. Now, will you quit?” She asked under her breath.

He sighed and looked around. It was gonna be awhile for her to get the details sorted out with the receptionist. “I’m gonna go sit over there,” He said as he pulled their luggage behind him.

He looked at all the men in suits and the women who were chattering about. He noticed that all the women who weren’t queued up for checking in were all tittering about something or another with one another. 

He was just like them. Dragged along as an accessory. And more people looked out for him and gave him advice on how to get the best room, the conference was going to get crazy. Him, in his nice t-shirt and jeans, but still t-shirt and jeans and he saw Laurel over there fighting to make sure she got the best room.

She’d done this on her own before, but she asked him to come with her, because they had a case that he could work on too. But seeing her, her reminded himself that this was about her first and foremost. 

The receptionist gave Laurel the room keys and she smiled more genuinely as she put her wallet back in her birkin, one of the only presents that he’d gone all out for, and came over to him. “We are in room 224. So I guess we should head up.” She told him.

"Sounds good," He said as he stood up and rolled the luggage behind him. 

They didn’t say anything the whole way up in the elevator, but she looked tense and he took her hand. She squeezed and smiled as she relaxed.

The doors opened and the found their room. She put a room key in and she looked around. “Welcome to home for the next few days,” She said. “I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t use your connections to get us a better room,” 

"I wanted to talk about that," He said as he let the luggage go.

She looked to him. “You do have a problem with the fact that I didn’t use your connections to get us a better room?” She asked with an eyebrow raised into her hairline. “I know that we have a nice house, but I didn’t think you would be that accustomed to luxury.” She said as she took her hair down.

"I wanted to apologize," He told her. "If you’d let me finish." 

She sat on the bed and nodded to him, a cue that he should finish the thought he was having.

He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. “You work so hard and you get so little credit for what you do. And I’m sorry I asked why we needed to come. I was just tired from the plane ride here. I think the room is perfect. And I think you’re perfect too.”

"What brought this on?" She asked him, tilting her head. 

He shook his head. “You’re not gonna believe it.” He told her with a bit of a grin.

"Try me," She chuckled as she wrinkled her nose and nudged him with her shoulder.

He offered her a bemused smile, “I realize that here, it’s so hard for people to take women seriously. I mean I literally heard the wives titter in the lobby. And so many people think you don’t belong here, but you do. You do more than anybody else, and I will defend that until my dying day Laurel Lance. I should have been more sensitive to the fact you asked me to come with you.” He told her. 

She sat straight with her hands on the bed, “I became a lawyer because I wanted to help people and I always do. Maybe not in the ways they expect, but I always do. And breaking down the idea that I’m someone’s secretary or accessory, because let’s be real a lot of those women out there are used for accessories, that’s a noble purpose.” She told him as she grinned. This was who she was. She ran a hand over his leg and smiled. “and I’m glad you’re here. Even if you complain. God, knows I have to hear the men complain about how their girlfriends do. But you’re really okay with the room?” She asked him.

"Yeah," He said with a smile as he looked around. "I like it, not too much space. It’ll force me to get out of here when you’re not around. So I’ll do things. don’t you worry." He told her.

She nodded. “Good, because, you know the conference doesn’t start until tomorrow.” She told him.

"Yeah?" He asked her.

She nodded and smiled. “I was thinking that maybe we could go get dinner and then come back and put the do not disturb sign on the door for awhile?” She asked him.

"Or we could just order room service and then get straight to the do not disturb sign on the door. Maybe get you in a bath. I mean that bathroom looked nice." He told her as he grinned. 

She grinned wider than anything she’d ever known.  ”That sounds ideal. Let’s get the menu,” She said as she crossed to the desk and got the menu for them to look over. “Why don’t you order something since you know what I like and I will get started in the bathroom?” She asked him as she kissed him on the jaw. “Don’t take too long.”

"No," He said as he wrapped his arms around her. "You can’t start without me, because we need someone to bring us our food. And I don’t want to stop in the middle of everything," He said kissing her jaw. 

"Well, then we need to hurry up and order so they can get here quickly." She said and kissed him on the cheek.

He nodded. “We sure do.” 


	22. Underwater

When she took off running, he ran behind her. This was one of those things that actually felt like a normal thing to do when you and your mate were both superheroes. Their feet pattering on the pavement felt normal.

They ran and he knew that there was a bridge that just dropped off into the ocean. A pier. But on the other side of the city than they were used to. “You might want to be careful. It gets a little dangerous up there,” He said as she ran off.

She grinned at him. “Afraid I’m gonna fall off the end of the earth and vanish?” She asked him as she ran backwards so that she could see his face. 

He shook his head. He knew she could handle herself, but he winced at the idea of her missing from his life. “Just be careful, okay?” He asked.

She laughed. “When am I not?” She asked as she turned around and started running normally.  She took a turn and he hadn’t really seen where she went after she turned the corner and she was gone when he got there.

He looked side to side to see where she had gone and then he saw the pier. “Dammit, Laurel,” He said as he looked down and didn’t see her, but saw ripples in the water. That wasn’t good. She was under the water. And while he knew that she could get up from that, maybe she hadn’t seen, and was drowning a little.

He took a deep breath and dived in for her. He opened his eyes and the water stung them, but he looked around. She wasn’t there. Maybe, further, he asked? He looked a little further down but he didn’t see her. He swam up to the surface and took a breath, “Laurel, where are you hun?” He asked as he dived in again.

the same routine. and nothing.

He came up again. “Come on, Laurel? You just have to show yourself. Just please don’t be dead?” His voice quaked and his hands trembled and his eyes blinked rapidly. His chest tightened at the thought of losing Laurel in his life. 

"You didn’t really think I was dead did you?" She asked from behind him.

He about jumped out of his skin and took her in his arms and hugged her. “Why the fuck did you do that?” He asked her as he kissed her face. “Why do you make me crazy?” 

She looked him straight in the eye. “You didn’t think I could handle it. Like not for nothing, but I’m pretty smart, okay babe? I know where the edge is. But I wanted you to have that feeling of what it might be to lose me, makes you realize how it feels for the rest of us, huh?” She asked him. “I wasn’t even gone for very long. Only ten minutes, okay?”

He nodded. He understand what she did even if he didn’t agree with it. He loved her and he would hate to lose her and feeling the very real panic that he felt was a good wakeup call for him that he needed to think about his own life in new ways too. 

"There’s always going to be danger ahead for us, but it’s something that we have to trust each other with. And we have to protect ourselves. Because it’s not just about you. And it’s not just about me. It’s about us now. It’s always been about us, okay?" She asked as she caressed his cheek.

He nodded. “I’m sorry if it sounded like I was trying to tell you how to live your life. I promise you’re doing amazing with it.” He told her as he smiled. “You think that we can get out of this water now?” 

She chuckled. “Yeah, I mean we’re both wet. And it’s kind of gross,” She told him as she wrinkled her nose.

They both swam across the  and climbed the metal pier and ran back to the house. They definitely weren’t as wet when they got out of water, but they were still really wet when they got into the house. “Do you want to get into the shower with me?” She asked with a bit of a flirty smile.

He shook his head. “As much as I would love that, you need to get to work. And I don’t want to make you late, but I’ll make you coffee, ‘kay?” He asked.

She gave him a light kiss and blushed. “You are the best boyfriend I’ve had in a long time,” She said as she took off up the stairs.

He went into the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove and ground up some coffee beans and he thought about being in the water and the idea that Laurel might have been gone.

What she said did mean something. She knew how she felt in the five years that he was gone. And that five months that he was gone after that. He left her so often and she had to deal with that. She had to deal with the brokenness and she had to deal with shouting into the void and wanting him back. 

They were always in danger. That was part of them now. And their relationship had to survive with the idea that one of them might not always be together in the same place. They needed to trust that they would come back to each other. 

He heard her coming down the stairs as he pushed the plunger down in the coffee and smiled to him. “What are you thinking about, Ol?” She asked him.

"Just about what you said earlier. Never really thought about those kinds of things before." He told her as he gave her a travel coffee cup and her creamer.

She shrugged. “We’re gonna figure it out together,” She said as she kissed him. “But you should probably shower, okay?” Laurel said as she put her coffee in her cup and kissed him one more time. “And I’ll see you at the Cave after work?” 

"Yep," He said. "But yeah, that shower sounds good. Have a good day at work." Oliver said as he kissed her. He ran up the stairs and smiled. It was going to be a good day. 


	23. A Halloween Illusion

Tommy usually threw the halloween party when he was alive, but to honor his memory in a nice way, Laurel and Oliver through a big one at the Queen Mansion. The only caveat was that neither of them could know about the other’s costume till they party.

It was silly, but it was a way to let them be a little bit individual.

Laurel stopped in front of Felicity’s townhouse and rang the bell with her garment bag in one hand. 

Felicity came to the door and smiled, her hair in curlers.  ”Hey, girl. So what are you going as? I’ve been dying to know.” She told Laurel as she opened the door a little wider and smiled.

Laurel came in and smiled. “I know you have. But you can’t keep a secret from Oliver to save your life. So I have to keep it from you too. But don’t worry, it’s great. I made sure that one of my friends, okayed it.” She said as she unzipped the bag.

"You’re kidding, me right?" She asked. "He’s gonna love that. He’s obsessed with magic tricks." 

Laurel chuckled as she smiled to Felicity. “Oh, he’s gonna love it. But it’s just the start. Zatanna’s brilliant. She showed me how to do a couple of tricks. Even helped with a couple of illusions, that should be great.” 

Felicity shook her head and giggled. “He’s never gonna know what hit him. So are you coming in with me? Or are you gonna have a big entrance?” She asked.

Laurel nodded. “Of course, big entrance. But I need to get ready, so do you mind if I use your room?” She asked.

Felicity just held out a hand and let her use her bedroom to put on her costume.

Laurel left before Felicity and waited for the party to be hopping till she made her way to the party. 

"Do you know where Laurel is?" He asked Felicity. "She’s supposed to be here soon. She said she had something important to show the entire party in the great room, but I haven’t seen her yet." He said as he looked at the clock on the mantle.

Felicity chuckled as she saw Laurel in the hallway but looked up to Oliver. “Oh, I think you should just wait a minute. I think she’ll turn up soonish.” 

"I’m worried," He told her as he looked up at the time once again.

She nodded to him. “You know, I think we should start heading to the great room now,” She said as she went to the hallway and didn’t see Laurel thank god. It would have ruined the surprise him to see her before she wanted him to.

As they got to the great room, they took in a big stage area with various magician’s paraphernalia and Felicity looked awed. She didn’t know how Laurel kept him out of here with this stuff. “Do you know what’s going on?” He asked Felicity.

She shook her head. “I’m in the dark, just as much as you,” 

And the lights went off and there was a little bit of a rumble.

"Dear party goers, we have a special surprise for you. You haven’t seen her on the stage, but you will be waiting to see what she has up her sleeve, the canary extraordinaire" and as lights went up, a puff of smoke and she appeared in a twirl. 

Laurel laughed and looked to Oliver and winked. “Thank you, Zatanna. I am the great Canary Extraordinaire. Now come in close,” She said as she started playing with cards and people mad their way in front of the stage. “No, closer,” She told them and Oliver came the closest. “Because the more you think you see, the easier it is to fool you,” She said as she made the cards make a canary.

The whole crowd cheered and the Oliver clapped for her.

The act went on with progressively harder tricks until it came to the box. “Now, I’m gonna need my lovely assistant, Zatanna back again, for my last trick. And I’m gonna make her disappear before you very eyes.” She said with a grin and the crowd roared. Zatanna opened the box and showed the people what they wanted to see, “Now this is a normal box, but she’s gonna disappear. That’s okay, right, Zatanna?”

"Sure is," Z laughed and got into the box. 

Laurel smiled as she locked the box.  ”Now, I’m gonna tap three times and open the box and we’ll see if miss Z is still in there, okay?” She asked and did exactly that, the music stopped, and she tapped the box three times, unlocked the door and there was no Zatanna. The crowd cheered. “Okay, okay, now let’s see if we can get her back, but this time, I want a person from the audience to knock on the box, how about…” She said as she looked to pick someone, “How about you Ollie? Come on up here.”

She held out her hand for him and he climbed on stage. “So I just tap the box?” He asked. She nodded and he did and unlocked the box and Zatanna didn’t show. The crowd rumbled and she smiled.

"Oh no, silly me, I forgot something." She said.

He nodded. “Okay, what is it?” 

"You need some magic." She said as she giggled. "and I’m the only magician here, so why don’t you give me a kiss and we’ll see if that works, okay?" She said with a grin.

He pulled her and gave her a kiss for a good ten seconds. “Okay, is that enough?” He asked.

"Should be," She said as he knocked on the door and unlocked and there she was. Zatanna. "Thank you Oliver. And thank you party goers. I hope you all enjoyed this little show." She said as she bowed.

He came over and shook his head. “You did all of this for me?” He asked her.

"Well, I didn’t do it all for you. I did it because it would be fun. But you know, you like illusions and fishnets and bustiers. I figured it would be a hit with you." 

"Oh, and it was," He told her as he took her in his arms and took her into the party. "I think Tony Stark will enjoy taking off the magician’s costume later." He told her.

She grinned. “I can’t wait.”


	24. Selfies and Surprises

As she parked the car at the bottom of the mountain and opened the door with a grin. “Come on, it’s gonna be fun,” She said with bright cheeks as she got out the equipment from the bag and looking up to the top.

"I didn’t think you were actually serious about this," He told her as he got out and looked at her. "I didn’t think you liked this." 

She smiled and stuck her tongue out at him. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, so come on, this is gonna be an experience and you don’t want to miss it. I promise it’s worth it,” She said as gave him a pack and got the boat and oars. out.

"You never expressed any enjoyment of this before," He told her as he took a pack as she closed the garage. 

She kissed him on the cheek. “Well, you learned a bunch new things on the Island. I learned some new things in that time too. And it’s been awhile, but I want to get back into it and I want to do this with you.” She told him. “So do you want to come or not?” She asked him. “If not, you can set up camp.” 

He shook his head and laughed. “Come on, let’s get going then,” He told her.

As they climbed up, Laurel looked down a little. Oliver looked over to her and laughed. “You know what they say about looking down?” He asked her.

"Don’t?" Her voice trembled a little as she tried to find her footing and where to hold on the rocks. 

He nodded and looked down at the bottom and looked back to her. “Really, don’t. You’ll be okay.” He told her as he put his hand on her back and rubbed her back for a minute as he held onto his rope.

She attempted to find another handhold, looking over the curve of the rock and her left hand where her right was and tried to move a little to the right. “Come on, there has to be a good place,” She said to herself.

He looked to her as her body trembled during this and his face went a little sour. “Are you okay?” He asked. He was almost tempted to get ready to try and save her, but she told him she knew how to do this and if she didn’t need him, he didn’t want to put himself in danger for her. He knew that would not be seen as the thoughtful gesture it would be presented as.

She nodded to him, “I got it,” She told him with an uneasy smile and grabbed for a rock.

She lost her hand and fell back and Oliver’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he tightened his hand on the rope and he reached for her as she swung in the air. 

He couldn’t take that she might fall to her death and she put an arm out to steady herself and took a breath. She was shaky and he had a fierce look in her eyes as his skin tingled. “Oh, god,” She said to him with a trembly voice. 

He looked at the mountain and looked down to her with a catch in his throat and a racing heartbeat. 

"Oh god, the look on your face," She said to him as she laughed and flailed a little in the fun, but it was very clear that she was not in any amount of harm.

He shook his head and looked back at the mountain with a little bit of a smile. “That’s not funny,” He said as she trekked back up to him.

"Oh, it was," She laughed, "And it’s the last time that you’ll doubt my abilities when it comes to rock climbing. Because I saw that look on your face. You wanted to save me." She said as she stuck out her tongue at him.  

He climbed forward and smiled, “It’s only because I couldn’t think of going on in life without you in it,” He told her as he combed his fingers through his hair and grinned at her.

She beamed back at him, “Well, let’s get to the top of the mountain, loser buys dinner!” She said as she climbed up with the finesse of a tiger and his sat there with jaw open.

He got up to the top at the same time she did, but he let her get on the precipice before he did, because seeing her light up when she did it and turned back to him, she looked like an earth goddess.

He got up and looked out across the horizon with her and was in awe of the entire thing. “So you’re buying me dinner?” She asked him.

He nodded. “Yes, dinner is on me when we get back into the city.”

"You totally let me get up first," She said as she pushed him with her shoulder. 

He chuckled and looked down at the cliff they were on. “Yeah, but only because you were having so much fun. And you did consistently beat me to the top.” He told her. 

He took his cellphone out of the pack that was clipped on his belt buckle and swiped up for the camera. “What are you doing?” She asked as her brows knit together.

"Taking a picture with mother nature. and the rocks are cool too," He said as he got her in the picture with a big smile and she glowed exactly like gaia. 

She took her phone out of her pack and did the same thing as she kissed him on the cheek and smiled. “I like taking pictures with you too,” She told him.

"You know, we should do things like this more often," He told her as he hugged her and looked across the horizon.

She nodded. “Maybe we bring the team next time,” She suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," He said as he kissed her on the cheek and she blushed, "But maybe, I want to do more of this with just you?" He asked her.

She looked up to him and raised her eyebrows. “You do?” She asked him.

"I do," He nodded, "But maybe without the crazy stunt you pulled today making me think I was going to lose you forever." 

She turned in his arms and held his face in her hands and smiled to him. “Well, you’ll just have to trust that ‘mother nature’ has it,” 

He chuckled as he let her go. “I always have, oh and that photo is totally becoming my lock screen background,” 

"I can deal with that," She said with a wide grin. 


	25. Capturing Happiness

Laurel tickled Olivia’s little booted feet as she smiled manically and unsnapped the onesie.  ”Mama’s gonna get you cleaned up and then we’re gonna check on daddy who should be ready by now and then we’re gonna get our picture taken, how’s that sound?” She cooed at their daughter.

Thea shook her head. “Motherhood really changed you,” 

Laurel spun around and her jaw dropped. She looked at the clock on the wall. “You’re not supposed to be here for an hour,” Laurel said and Olivia made something of a gurgling sound.

Thea picked the baby up and smiled at Olivia. “Oliver wanted some pictures of just you and him, so he asked me to come over a little early so someone could hold Olivia. But don’t tell him I told you. It’s supposed to be a surprise when you go check on him.”

Laurel nodded and Thea bounced Olivia up and down for a few moments. She couldn’t believe that Oliver thought of that. It’s not that she didn’t think Oliver could. In fact, he was phenomenal at planning things out, but she never expected that kind of action from him. 

Olivia started to get fussy in Thea’s arms. “I think she wants that change now,” Thea laughed as she put the baby down and Olivia settled. 

She definitely needed that. And once she was clean and buttoned back up, Olivia was right back in Thea’s arms grabbing hair and pulling. For Thea’s part, she never yelled and only ever winced if it hurt occasionally.

Laurel went down to their master and looked in to see Oliver finishing up the buttons on his shirt. “I found something,” She told him as she came in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He raised his eyebrow and Thea came in with Olivia and he smiled. “So, there’s an explanation,” He told Laurel. She nodded. “I know you wanted lots of pictures of the family with Olivia, but I wanted some of just you and me that we could show her. What do you think?” He asked as he cradled her in his arms.

"I think it sounds perfect," She told him as she kissed him lightly.

Thea bounced Olivia and made a disgusted face. “We need to tell your parents they need to settle it down before someone goes into a diabetic coma.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “If you don’t want to see, get out. This is our room,” She told Thea as she went back in for a kiss, but before it could go anywhere the doorbell rang.

Oliver looked down to her. “That’s probably the photographer.”

They all went and met the photographer at the door and ushered him into the living room to get set up and Laurel, in her mint sundress, smiled at him and touched his nose with this giddiness and the Thea who saw this cute moment where her brother and Laurel were so uninhibited about everything, tapped the photographer on the shoulder.

He looked at them and took his camera, already ready and took a couple of pictures of them without them knowing.

Oliver took her hand and kissed the top of it with the biggest smile. 

It was like they were in there own little world for a second and then Olivia clapped and they looked over to see the photographer looking down at his camera and smiling.

Thea grinned. “You get anything good?” She asked as she bounced Olivia a little more.

The photographer nodded and gave Thea a look at the viewer. “One of the most loving happy couples that I have ever had the pleasure to photograph together,” 

Oliver and Laurel both blushed. Thea smiled a the two of them, “Lucky you,” She told them as she tickled a Olivia who flailed wildly while on Thea’s hip.

"Be careful, please," Laurel said as she put her hands out almost as if to cat Olivia if she fell, but still standing by Oliver, she wasn’t near close enough to actually do that. 

Thea shook her head. “Liv’s fine. Right Liv?” And Thea tossed her up in the air and smiled as she caught the baby who giggled.

"How about we get some more pictures in the garden?" Oliver asked.

The photographer nodded and as Oliver hugged her and she squealed with delight, the photographer captured them in all of their happy spontaneous moments. 

Oliver twirled her around and she had this stupid grin on her face and it was just like they were normal people, except to say that they really weren’t normal people at all. They were very not normal people. 

They moved freely without anything holding them back and it just made for great pictures. And Oliver knew it would. Laurel was alway great at taking pictures, photogenic and just perfect in general.

Thea came out after awhile and descended the steps and smiled at the group. “Hour’s up. And the Lance Family is here.” 

"Where’s Liv?" Oliver asked.

Thea put her hand on his arm in case he panicked. “Dinah’s holding her grandbaby.” 

"Well, let’s go inside," Laurel said as she took Oliver’s hand and he knew she couldn’t wait to get back to Olivia. As much fun as it was having a few minutes to themselves, they both were happiest as a family with Olivia. 

Laurel saw her mother and father cooing over Olivia and smiled big. “She’s getting so big. And that smile, oh, she’s gonna be so pretty,” Dinah said.  

Laurel nodded. “Oh, she’s already gorgeous, but she’s gonna be a brain too. So are we gonna take the group first? And then pass Liv around?” She asked.

"We do everyone first and then we do smaller pictures," The photographer said as he set everyone up. They took a few minutes just to get the stiffness out of everyone.

Laurel smiled to Oliver who had Olivia in his arms and she had just about the biggest stupidest grin as she saw Laurel hold out a rattle. And the photographer took the picture and beamed. “Gorgeous happy family. Okay, couple more and then we do family by family. alright?” He asked.

Oliver stood closer to Laurel and let her take Olivia this time. He kissed her head and smiled. “I love that no matter what, Olivia has a chance to see us happy,” He whispered.

Laurel shrugged. “You know, I don’t think that’s gonna be a real big problem.” She said as she scrunched her nose. “Even in the worst times, we’ve alway found a way to make each other happy.”

"You sure it’s always gonna be that way?" He asked in a joking manner and with a stupid grin.

She nodded. “Always and forever,” 


	26. Family Protection

"You’ve got to be kidding with this," She told him as she looked at the other man in the room and then looked back to Oliver. "You literally cannot be serious about this," 

"I am serious about this. Your safety is important." He told her as he pushed some of her to the side and looked to the bodyguard.

She shook her head. “I’m not doing it. I’m gonna run him through the course and he’s gonna quit and you’re gonna end up regretting this.” Laurel said through gritted teeth. To the man’s credit, he didn’t say anything or move in a way that indicated that he was hurt.

"Look, I can’t have you and the kids, unprotected all hours of the day, so bodyguards.  You know as well as I do that there are threats." He told her. He knew that she would hate this, but it was more important to keep her safe than to give in to what she wanted. The truth was they both needed to watch their kids grow up and bodyguards would make sure that they would both have that.

Still the flame in her eyes scared him. “You cannot lock me up in a gilded cage, Oliver. I am not a bird. I am not property. I say if I get bodyguards and I say no,” She said hotly and left the room.

"Please give us a moment?" He asked the bodyguard who gave him a simple nod and didn’t move from his position.

Oliver left the room after her and saw her in another room, putting clothes and stuff in a bag. “I can’t believe you thought I would just go for this, Oliver.”

"I didn’t think you would just go for it," He sighed as he sat on the bed. 

She stopped packing for a second and looked at him, “Then why the hell did you spring this on me?” 

"Because," He said and he took her hand in his, "As much as it’s not fair of me to say this, I can’t lose you. And the kids can’t lose you. Don’t you get it, Laurel? We’re all pirates and the booty is you." 

She shook her head as she sat in his lap. “You just want a chance to say booty.” She smiled to him.

He shrugged, not denying it. “I love you.”

"Always?" She asked him.

He grinned. “Always and forever,” He said.

"So let’s talk bodyguards." She said as she looked at their hands entwined with each other. "If you want me and the kids to have people, you also need people." 

"I can take care of myself," He started to protest.

And she cut him off and shook her head. “No. That’s the deal. You want me and the kids to have people, you have to have people too. You’re not damseling the rest of us, so that you can feel better and then being reckless with you,” She told him.

"What about times when I have times that I need to be alone? You know for business." He asked her.

Laurel sighed, “I have those times too.” She said as she looked into his eyes.

"You know, being in this business and being famous, we’re always gonna be targets. And Olivia and Tommy, they are never going to know anything different. At least with bodyguards, we can try to have a  mostly normal life." He told her.

She nodded again. “I understand why you want this, but I’m firm on it’s all of us or it’s none of us. And you can’t just duck out from your bodyguard whenever you want.”

"Damn," He muttered as he jerked his fist to his chest. 

She rolled her eyes. “You really think that Thea and Moira didn’t tell me all about your misadventures when you came off that island?” She asked him as shey raised her eyebrow. “They knew that was not going to be the last time you dealt with bodyguards.” 

He shrugged. “I guess thinking that was pretty silly even if they didn’t. You know me better than anyone.”

"So we’re agreed? That in order to keep Tommy and Liv safe, we’re all gonna have bodyguards?" She asked him.

He nodded and smiled to her. “I’ll call the agency in the morning and tell them that we need two more, cause I honestly think the kids should be able to share one,” He told her.

She nodded. That seemed right. “You’re my treasure too.” She whispered to him as she kissed him lightly. “And we’ll figure out how to get away from them when we need to do business.” She told him.

"I love you," He told her as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

She broke out into a grin and laughed, “I love you too, always and forever,” She told him. “So this is our first foray into an entourage?” She laughed a little at the thought.

"I guess so," He said as he thought about it.

"You know, I should get you that assistant so that you don’t miss anything again. Like Olivia’s parent teacher conference," She said with a sly smile.

He rolled his eyes and kissed her again. “That was one time.”

"One time which you will never forget anymore," She told him with a great big smile.

He tackled her down and held her hands in his and he attacked her with kisses on her face and neck. 

"God, can’t you two keep it in your pants for twenty minutes while other people are around?" Thea asked with Olivia at her side on Tommy in her arms.

Oliver and Laurel looked over to their family. “No, we can’t,” Oliver said as he picked up Olivia and spun her around and landed her on his hip. “I thought you were gonna take them to a movie?” He asked.

"I was," Thea said. "But they wanted to say goodbye." 

Laurel looked up to him. “It would be a good test run to see if we could get used to the bodyguard.” She told him.

"That’s true," He told her. "You don’t have work tonight?" 

She shook her head. “Nothing that I can’t rearrange.” 

"Then, I will go get Isaac and you should go get some shoes," He told her.

Thea shook her head and as Oliver left and Laurel was about to leave, “How’d he convince you?” She asked, not believing what just happened. 

She shrugged. “He promised me he’d get one too.” 


	27. Hospital Calls

"Come on, dad, you promised." Olivia whined to him as Laurel came in the door, with her briefcase on her wrist and a file in her other hand and her head leaned on her shoulder as she listened to the person on the line. 

Oliver shook his head. “No, it’s not happening. That is the weekend of your mother’s birthday. You’re staying here so we can celebrate,” 

"I will call you back in the morning, I promise," Laurel said, "Thank you, goodbye," And then she hung up her phone.

Olivia went in for the kill. “Mom, dad promised me that I could go to the Maldives with Kalindi and her family and now he’s saying I can’t go because I have to stay here for your birthday weekend.” 

Laurel looked to Oliver who had big bug eyes at the thought of their daughter going to a foreign country without them. Not that she hadn’t been there before. But he wouldn’t practically let her go to Central City without checking up on her three times. “Olivia, you know the rules. Dad says you’re not going. I’m not gonna contradict him on this. Especially since he has a good reason for it.”

"You guys never let me do anything fun," Olivia pouted as she stomped off elsewhere.

Laurel looked to Oliver, “Really, you told her she could go to the Maldives?” She asked him with an eyebrow raised.

"It was a long night the night before and she cornered me before coffee." He said as he put his hands up. "So who was on the phone?" He asked.

Laurel rolled her eyes hearing that he had been overtaken by their daughter. She knew Oliver was smart, but Olivia played him like a drum and he didn’t even know it. “You should think about less work hours then,” She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And that was Carla Colin, she works at the hospital,” She told him.

"Oh yeah?" He asked.

Laurel nodded. “Connor has a pretty harsh strain of pneumonia, so they’re keeping him in the hospital until he can get better. They said shouldn’t be terrible, but we might not see him for about a week.” 

"Connor like, Connor, my Connor? Olivia’s half brother?" He asked.

She nodded once again. “He put me down as an emergency contact when his mom died. Said I would always know how to get to you,” She smiled a little sadly.

He hugged her, arms wrapped tightly around her chest, because he knew that all of the kids were important to her. Connor wasn’t her son, but she loved him just the same. “He’s gonna be fine. There was no way out of this, you know that?” He asked her.

"How can you be so sure?" She sobbed a little.

He kissed her on the temple and then looked in her eyes and wiped the tears away, “Because you are the best mom to all of these kids that they could ask for. And sometimes disease just happens, okay?” He asked. 

She snuggled into his chest and let out a breath. She sniffled a couple of times and looked up to him. “You know, you can be sweet when you want to be.”

"I know," He told her with a smile. "And tonight, we’re gonna get Felicity and we’re gonna go down to Best Buy or wherever’s the best place to buy gadgets and Felicity and Olivia are gonna load it up with stuff that Connor’s gonna love. Tommy can help. And then in the morning, you and I will bring it to him, how does that sound?" 

"Like a plan," Laurel said as she poked him in the forehead.

He picked her up so her feet weren’t on the floor anymore, and spun her around to which she made a surprised squeak. “Better?” He asked and she nodded.

"I should go change before we take Olivia and Felicity and Tommy to spend our money for Connor," She said as she kissed him on the cheek. She picked up her red soled high heels and went to the bedroom.

He watched her leave and then went into the living room where Tommy was playing on a video game and Olivia was manically texting on her phone. “We’re going out, so I need you both to go get your shoes,” He told them. 

"Where are we going?" Olivia asked, not even looking up from her phone. God, she looked more and more like Laurel everyday, especially when she was mad. 

Oliver looked down at the floor and nudged his feet around. “Connor’s in the hospital. So we’re going to a gadget store with Miss Felicity to buy him a tablet so that he’ll have something to do while he’s there. And you guys and Miss Felicity are gonna load it up with stuff for him.”

"What? Con’s in the hospital?" Olivia asked as she put her phone down and the blood rushed from her face. 

Oliver nodded. “Yeah, he’s gonna survive, but they just want to make sure that everything’s okay.” He told her. Olivia came over and hugged him big. It took him by surprise, but his lips quirked up and he shut his eyes for a minute. “Okay, go get your shoes kiddo,” He told her as he let her go.

Oliver saw Laurel come out of the room and smiled to him. She had fleece lined leggings on and some boots with a henley and a knitted scarf on top and she looked so casual. She definitely didn’t look like the district attorney that he knew everyone saw her as. She looked like the girl he fell in love with, who made him the mason jar of cranes. “Do I look okay?” She asked, given his stare.

He nodded. “You look perfect.”

She shrugged. “You don’t have to say that. I changed to get comfy, not to look good.” 

"Oh, but I do, because you look picture perfect. And I love you," He told her as he spun her into his arms.

"Always and forever?" She asked.

He nodded. “Always and forever.” 

As he went to press a kiss onto her cheek, the doorbell rang. He huffed as he got to the door. It was Felicity, “So are we ready?” She asked them. “and why are you so huffy?”

"It’s nothing," He told Felicity and Laurel laughed.

Felicity rolled her eyes. “You guys were doing the annoyingly cute thing weren’t you?” She asked as she eyed both of them.

Laurel nodded. Felicity looked to Oliver. “You can make like Elsa. Let it go and chill out.” 


	28. Hero's Sacrifice

Neither of them said anything for a long time as they came in the cave, changed, and Laurel sat on the floor. She didn’t look at anyone, just sort of stared out into space. Oliver did the same. 

And Diggle and Felicity let this go on for awhile, not really sure what happened, the signal cut out before they’d gone in. And Felicity monitored their vitals, thankfully that wasn’t taken away, and there were huge spikes, but they were still there and alive.

Finally, Felicity spoke, “Guys, are you okay? Is anyone hurt? Because if they are we can get medical attention and get you fixed tip top,” She said as she peered at them.

Laurel got up quietly and walked away. 

Oliver looked to Felicity and shook his head. And what Felicity saw was not the face of a man who was fine. Something happened. And neither of them could talk about it. 

Oliver followed Laurel out and hugged her in his arms. “I need to get home,” She told him because she could feel the emotion welling up in her again and she didn’t want to break in front of the people in Verdant. She couldn’t.

He walked them to the car and opened the door, let her slide in and buckle up and drove them, fast as he could to their home, the Queen house, theirs together. He took the bag and carried her up to the door.

When it opened, it was thankfully empty. He shut the doors and took her in his arms again and she burst into tears. “He’s gone, Ollie. He’s gone. He can’t be gone.”

It tore Oliver apart to know that she had to see that. That experience was the worst of his life and he had experienced his own parent’s death. He experienced his mother giving up her life for him. But it was different with Laurel. Laurel who was brave and would have taken that poison, because she believed that they could save her. But the odds were stacked against them and Quentin knew that. “He sacrificed himself. For us.”

"No, he sacrificed himself for me, because he had lived longer and I  was his kid. And dammit, it should have been me. You could have saved me. We could have gotten out of there with everyone alive," She said as she pounded on his chest lightly. 

He shook his head. She knew that she was grieving and that did a lot to a person. She probably wanted to die. “Your father knew that where we were, not everyone was getting out alive. And he gave us both the best chance to get out of there. He didn’t just die for you. He died saving everyone in this town. But in that moment, he died for us. And our family.”

"Olivia should know her grandfather," She violently sobbed and crumpled to the floor like a paper bag with her hands in front of his face.

He took her hands away from her face and brushed some hair behind her ear and he looked at her straight in the eyes, “Our little girl is going to know the best of her grandfather. She is going to know the love that he bestowed on her. And she is gonna know that her grandfather gave up his life so that she could have both of her parents. He protected her, okay? He helped her not be batman.” He said as he cradled her jaw in his hand.

"How do you do this?" She asked him as she blinked.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do what?” 

"Be so hopeful, when you’ve seen so much death?" She said as she cradled his face in her hands.

He stroked her cheek and wiped the tears away. “Because I have had great people show me that there is much more love to be had if you live than if you just find a way to survive.” He told her and blushed a little. “He would want you to remember that too.”

She sighed. It still hurt. She still thought she could do something. And it would be that way for awhile. She would go through these moods and that would be their normal for awhile. She would still have to be a parent to Olivia and he would have to be there for her, the best he could. “I think I just want to go sleep right now,” She told him.

He shook his head. “No, there is something we need to do first,” He told her. She gave him a questioned look and he guided her into the kitchen. “You need food.”

She shook her head and attempted to go back the other way, “I’m not really that hungry, Ol. I’m tired. It was a long day and I just…I can’t.” 

"Oh no, you need at least one bite of something, so you don’t wither away," He said and blocked the exit. 

She stared him down and he didn’t move and it went on like that for awhile till she conceded and huffed as she went further into the kitchen and looked in the fridge and found some cake. She cut herself a sliver and put it on a plate.

He took out a slice for him and gave her a fork and they sat their and ate their pieces of old birthday cake, pretty sure it was Olivia’s and he smiled at her and she didn’t frown or cry and honestly that was enough for him, because she had been hurt so much tonight that not being sad for one minute, even if she was just blah about the whole experience, that was a good direction for them.

He made a mental note to make an appointment with Dr. Armendariz so that they could talk to someone about this. Or at least she could. And maybe she wouldn’t want to go, but it might be easier and she should at least have the choice to go. And she wouldn’t make the first appointment on her own. She needed help in her times of need. And he wasn’t really there when Tommy died, but he could be damn sure that he was there for her now. 

Her plate sat in front of her for a few minutes and she spun her fork around, almost as if she contemplated getting another small sliver. He didn’t say anything as he finished his cake slowly and watched her get another one to finish up with him, this time slightly bigger.

They went to bed after that and in the silence, he smoothed over her hair and she looked into his eyes and smiled so lightly he could barely see it, “Thank you,” She said softly.

He smiled. “Your dad’s a hero. He loved you so much. He wanted you to be happy,” 

"I am. I love you." She told him.

He grinned a little bit bigger. “Always and forever?” He asked.

She nodded. “Always and forever.” She told him as she snuggled into his chest. “Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be sad about this.”

"I know," He told her. "I have a grief counselor, I’m gonna call her tomorrow, so that we have help along the way." 


	29. Relationship Expectations

Laurel put her workout gear in her bag and went to get a water bottle from the kitchen when she heard a knock.  The water bottle would have to wait. She opened the door to find, Felicity Smoak, Her friend and Oliver’s assistant, or former assistant now, she guessed at her door. “Hey, Felicity, what’s up,” She asked as she let Felicity in.

The door closed and Felicity fidgeted with her hands. “I just came over to check up on you.  You know since you were held at the hands of a crazy person.”

"Did Oliver send you over here?" She asked as she got her water bottle and started filling it up.

Felicity shook her head.  ”No, I’m just worried about you. You know, you’ve been through a lot. Your father’s in the hospital now. Your sister ran off with an assassin.  Tommy died.  And that’s not to mention the ordeal with the pills…and drinking,” As she trailed off, it became a whisper. Laurel knew it wasn’t easy to talk about. “I was worried about you.  It might be a tough time.” 

"Really, I’m fine.  Dad’s gonna get better. The doctor’s said he will. I was on my way out though," She said as she picked up her bag.

Felicity’s eyebrows knit together.  She looked at the bag and then back to Laurel.  ”Where are you going?” She asked. 

"To gymnastics and then to kickboxing." Laurel said as made sure nothing was out of place when she walked out, so that when she walked in, she’d know. 

Felicity shrugged.  ”I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing.” She said.

Laurel nodded. There was a lot Felicity didn’t know about her.  They only started being friends because of Oliver and they mostly talked about her and Oliver and even then they didn’t even begin to break the surface of what was all there. “Cop’s kid. Dad was really into self defense.  And I loved gymnastics. With everything that’s gone on, I thought it was probably a good time to get back into it,” She said as she spun her keyring around on her finger.

"Is that a Canary keychain?" Felicity asked as she noted tweety bird keychain dangling from Laurel’s keys.

Laurel smiled. “Yeah, a parting gift from Sara.”

"She has an amazing sense of humor sometimes," Felicity smiled at the keys.

They walked out of the apartment and Laurel just nodded. “Yeah, that’s Sara for ya. But I should get going.” 

"Okay," Felicity said as Laurel locked up. "Why weren’t you mad at him?"  She asked, out of the blue.

Laurel laughed a little.  This was what she was waiting for. “Why wasn’t I mad at him for what?” She asked, knowing that there was more to that bag than could be undone with just why was she not mad.

"For not telling you he was the arrow.  For putting your life in danger.  For literally kidnapping you." She asked, more concretely. 

Laurel looked Felicity straight in the eye.  ”When you first saw him in your car, bleeding because his mother shot him, what was your first reaction?” 

"Fear." 

"Mine too." Laurel said as she realized that it was important to say those words out loud. "Slade could have been using me to get to Oliver. He did use me. He used all of us. And I could have been angry at him for kidnapping me but what would that have done to me. I mean look at all of the things that I have been through.  At least when he kidnapped me, I wasn’t in danger. Oliver has saved me more times than I can count in that costume of his. He became the person I wanted him to be.  The person I knew he was deep down."

"But he cheated on you…" Felicity said as they walked.

Laurel shrugged it off. “You think I don’t know that? You think that I didn’t know whenever he was going out like that? I didn’t say anything because I knew that he would find himself. And he would always come back to me. At the end of the day what he got with everyone else was not what he got with me. I let him have his affairs, but I never let him treat me badly. I never took his shit. And I knew he was good. He wore a mask before too. But he’d have these moments when we were volunteering at this organization or that one, where it would come off. You could see that he loved helping.” 

Felicity wondered whether Oliver knew how utterly strong Laurel was. She stood by him, even the man before the island. She stood up for that man too.  ”A lot of people would call you crazy,” Felicity told her.

"I know," Laurel answered. "A lot of them did. A lot of them still do. A lot of people said I had no self respect back then. But I knew what I wanted. I was in love with him.  I wasn’t just in love with the good parts." 

Felicity nodded. They were in the lobby now and she looked to Laurel. “Do you think maybe I could come with you to gymnastics?” She asked.

"My coach doesn’t really like it when other people are there, but we’ll catch up tomorrow?" She asked.

Felicity nodded.  ”Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll text you the coffee shop I like to go to. Not that I’m a coffee snob or anything. I’m not. It’s literally just a starbucks. But you should know where it is, so you don’t have to drive around the city looking for me.” She rambled.

Laurel stood there and blushed in Felicity’s honor.  She laughed a little. “Will do. See you tomorrow for coffee.” 

When Laurel walked into the gym, Ted put his staff down.  ”You’re late,” He said, unamused by tardiness. She knew this, but traffic slowed to a halt because that conversation with Felicity dragged on.

"I know, his fault." She said as she dropped the bag and nodded her head to Oliver who was in the gym too. "A friend decided she needed to check up on me.  Took longer than I thought I wanted it too." 

He looked at her, searching for something in her eyes. “Are you sure she wasn’t checking up on you for that superhero boy you’re in love with over there? Who should know you can handle yourself” He said loudly as he looked to Oliver who looked back at the punching bag and very pointedly not at the Ted and Laurel.

"Felicity and I have had some time to figure out each other when it comes to not Oliver. But I think he might have said something and she just wanted to feel it out." She said as looked to her feet and then looked back up to him. "Can you give us a minute?" She asked Ted.

"One minute," He warned and he looked to Oliver, "Come on, loverboy, get over here and talk to her." He shouted as he went into the office to get what he needed.

Oliver sat down next to her. “So Felicity came over? What’d you talk about?” He asked.

"How I couldn’t hate you. She’s clueless you know." She said with a grin as she took another sip of water. She looked him in the eyes. "I don’t want anyone questioning my decisions anymore when it comes to you."

He sighed. This. Wouldn’t have been the first time. “I can’t stop them.” He told her.

"Look, one of the things that I need from you is to defend my honor when questions are posed to you. They listen to you." Laurel said as she touched his face.

He smiled. “So you’re getting better about communicating your expectations?” He asked as he kissed her on the forehead.

She laughed. “I’m trying,” She told him as she blushed.

"I can do that," He told her. "I want them all to know I have the privilege of dating you. Not the other way around."

"It’s a pretty cool to date you too, Ollie," She said as she gave him a peck.

Ted looked down at them. “Are you two ready to train now? Or is this your new makeout spot?” He asked. Oliver and Laurel looked between them and grinned devilishly and the color drained from Ted’s face. “Don’t answer just get up and let’s start training you two.” 


	30. Letters from the Past

It was just Laurel in the cave and she looked at the wooden box that had it’s own table. There was nothing else. She opened the buckles and swung open the lid. It was where his bow went. It still had the bow shape in the hay or grass or whatever was in it. And then there were, little other knick knacks. A bag of something. An old broken radio. A necklace. And then there was a book with something sticking out of the pages. And some old paper with her name on it.

The two last things struck her interest so she pulled up a chair and took them out of the box. She opened the book where the marker was and saw a list of names. And that the marker was the picture she’d given him to remind him of her while he was on the boat trip. She couldn’t believe he kept it. She blushed even though there was no one there. She ran her fingers through the pages, there were so many names she recognized. It was pretty much a who’s who of Starling City.

The old paper, she unfolded and saw it was letters. It was a lot of letters. 

_Dear Laurel, I’m an idiot for what I did to you…._

_Dear Laurel, God, I didn’t deserve you and your kindness…_

_Dear Laurel, I miss you so much and you probably hate me…_

_Dear Laurel, I dream of you every night and if I get off this island…_

And they all ended the same way.  _I love you, Oliver._

"Going through my things now?" His voice rang.

She looked away from the letters and looked up to him, “What are these?” Laurel asked him as she grasped them in her hand.

"The only pieces of you that I had on that Island besides the picture," He shrugged to her. "I had a lot of time to think. So I started writing it down about three months into my five year sentence." 

She looked down at the the letters and how much love they had in them. They expressed regret everytime. They showed her he cared about her. “You never told me about these,” 

"No, I didn’t," He agreed with her. She found them. He was wondering what to do with them.  It felt wrong not to keep them. Because he had tried before. He tried to throw them out. He tried to keep her from his mind.

She looked at the letters and her eyes watered a little. “Were you ever going to tell me about these?” She asked him as she looked to him.

He shrugged. That was the truth. “I don’t have an answer, because Laurel, everything in those letters is true, but sometimes it was easier to wish it wasn’t.” 

"You always ended them with I love you," She said as she put the letters on the table. 

He nodded and sighed. “I stand by that statement, everything in those letters is true, even if it’s easier to wish it wasn’t,” He told her and before he could turn away, she was in his arms, legs around his waist, clutching his face, and she kissed him. 

And to her surprise, he kissed back. He kissed her with force and rammed her up against a wall, so that they could properly make out. They cacophony of the tables being kicked around and the sound of their lips was enough. 

She panted when she let go of his lips. “You know, you’re gonna have to read them to me,” She grinned to him.

He laughed a little and nodded. “You still didn’t tell me why you were going through my stuff.” 

She shrugged. “I was curious. That box is never moved. And it sits there in very high regard, almost as if the contents mean something,” She said as she winked. 

And he sobered up for a minute and put her down. She looked confused and he shook his head. “This box, I didn’t know how to deal with it, except that I didn’t want anyone knowing about it. Because attachment to you, it’s already lead to your relative doom so many times. I didn’t want anyone to hurt you. Especially not anyone on the team.” He said as he touched the box.

"Is that something I should be worried about?" She asked him. "But Ollie," She said and she turned his chin to make him look at her, "I’m not here so you can protect me. I’m here because justice is who I am. And working with you, it’s the best way to get it." 

He huffed. “It’s been taken care of.” He told her and he looked into her eyes and smiled gentle and genuine, “I need you too. You are the light.” 

"We really need to talk about who was going to hurt me on the team, because I need to deal with that, not just you, but not tonight. But tonight you’re gonna read me the first letter, okay?" She asked as she gave him the paper. "Tell me about when you wrote it. How you got the pen and paper." 

"I love you," He told her.

She shook her head. “We’re not at the end of the letter yet,” 

"I do though, I love you," He said.

She kissed him on the cheek and smiled. “I love you too, always and forever,”

He chuckled, “Always and forever,”  

After a few moments of comfortable silence, he put a chair beside the one she had by the box and found the first letter he ever wrote to her on the island. He smiled at the words that he held because he caused her so much pain and he knew it. He had a long time to reflect on it on Lian Yu and here she was asking him to let her into that.

And that only meant one thing.

She was jumping in. Feet first. And trusting him to catch her if the water was too deep. And that he promised himself always to do. He was never going to get a chance like this again. 

He sat down and opened the letter. He cleared his throat and he read the letter: 

_Dear Laurel,_

_There is so much I wish to say and so much I may never get to. The first is how unbelievably sorry I am. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now…._


	31. Anonymous in Las Vegas

He slid the ring on her finger and smiled and the officiant looked between them both and smiled at the happy couple. “You may now kiss the bride,” He said. And Oliver did just that. He put a hand on the small of her back, dipped her down and kissed her with all the passion he had.

As they walked out the door, the city still full of life. Laurel looked to Oliver and smiled. “I’m glad we did this,” She told him.

"Are you guys ready to keep your nuptials quiet for a little while? I mean you guys have the big wedding coming up in like six months," Tommy said as he put a hand on both of their shoulders.

She looked between Oliver and Tommy and nodded. “I think we can keep a secret. I mean we all kept us a secret for years.” She said with a devilish grin. “So where to next?” She asked.

"Speak for yourself, I might just want to tell everyone about us," He told her as he circled her waist with his arms and he gave her a peck on the cheek. Oliver shrugged. "When in Vegas, do as the they do?" He asked Tommy and Laurel.

"You want to let her gamble away all your money?" Tommy asked with a bit of a laugh. "I mean it is half hers now, after all." He told Oliver.

Laurel nudged Tommy in the ribs. “If you’re not careful, Felicity is gonna hear about that attitude of yours,” The smile didn’t leave her face though and so he figured, he was okay for now at least.

"So where should we go first?" Tommy asked.

Laurel pointed down the strip. “Let’s go to the middle of it and gamble. We’ll figure it out from there,” She said. Tommy and Oliver looked at each other with a huge grin and both picked her up and she squealed with delight and surprise. “You guys,”

"You’re Mrs. Queen," Oliver said. "You deserve to be treated like the Queen you are," He told her with a wink.l

As they went down the strip, they found the casino in the middle of the strip and smiled as they came in and put her down on her feet. The lights made her white sequined dress sparkle vibrantly. “Come on, and stop staring at my ass,” She told them as she went to a craps table.

They went to a blackjack table where both of the guys stood behind her as she took a seat and Oliver gave over some money. This was a pretty good investment for later, because they could make some money to blow on some of the games they didn’t know how to play, but people could teach them.

"Where are you guys from?" The southern woman who was drinking teas next to them said.

Laurel smiled. “We’re from Starling City,” She said as she blushed and the chips were piled in front of her and she was given cards. An eight and a 3, she nodded and she tapped the table.

"Oh, that’s where that crazy vigilante is cleaning up the city right?" She asked. "I see something about that place of the television every day," She said. "I hope you fellas are safe. You too dear." She said as she looked at her cards.

Laurel shook her head. “It’s not as bad as you think,” She told the lady and looked at the face card and smiled at it. Blackjack.

"Ah, very good dear," the older lady smiled. "So are you and your friends here for vacation?" She asked.

Laurel shook her head. “Actually, we were here for a wedding,” She told her.

"Oh, who’s wedding?" The old lady asked.

Oliver blushed, “That would be hers and mine, Miss.”

The old lady stood on her cards and smiled to the dealer and then to Oliver. “You are one lucky man. She agreed to marry you in Vegas. She must really like you.”

"I do," Laurel said as she looked at the dealer flip over his cards and take himself to a twenty, not enough for the old lady to beat him, but enough that Laurel was still in good standing.

After many more rounds of betting, Laurel took her chips and smiled to the lady who sat next to them. “Make sure that he treats you right, Miss. You deserve the world,” The old lady said as she winked.

Laurel rolled her eyes and smiled to Oliver. “He could buy me the world if I asked him too,” She told him.

He nodded. “And I would.”

"Thought the wedding was supposed to be a secret." Tommy laughed a little. He didn’t think it would be Oliver to say anything about it either.

He shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be right now. When we get back to Starling, it will be a different deal, but for now, it can be the three of us talking about our wedding. Talking about being husband and wife and friend,” He told Tommy.

"Seriously, when we get back to Starling, we can’t say anything. Our families will kill us if they knew we went to Vegas and got married without them. Especially Thea." Laurel said as she thought about Thea realizing that they were married.

Tommy shrugged. “There is also the fact that you guys are gonna have to publicly deal with me being alive. That lazarus pit wasn’t the easiest thing to get out of,”

Oliver nodded. They both had good points. They were going to have a lot to deal with when they got home, but for now, it was the three of them in a blissful time where they didn’t have to worry about any of that. They could just be people. Anonymous people. They could be happy about getting married and having him there to witness it. He’d be there to witness their other wedding, the big one. “Agreed. But let’s have fun for now.”

"When in Vegas," She said.

"When in Vegas," Tommy agreed.

Oliver looked at both of them. “I’m glad this weekend gets to be our secret together. It’s like the old days.”

Laurel picked up three drinks. “To the old days and the new secrets. May they always be this fun,” She said as she grinned to them.

"Old days and new secrets." Oliver and Tommy said and they clinked glasses.  Tommy looked at the two of them. "You guys look happier with this secret than you ever did in Starling." 

Oliver shrugged. “Perks of being able to be honest,” He said.

"In secrets, we are our most honest selves." Laurel said and took another drink. They’d have to explain this excursion on Monday, but right now, they were ghosts, free.


	32. Stealing Cinderella

Oliver knocked on Quentin’s door and wrung his hands. This was one of the most nerve wracking moments of his life. He was going to ask for his fiancee’s father’s blessing.

Quentin opened the door and frowned. “Queen.”

"I’d like to ask you a question sir," Oliver nodded.

Quentin sighed and opened the door bigger and lead him to the living room. “Something to drink?” He asked.

Oliver shook his head. “No, I’m good.”

"Well, I’m going to get a glass of coke. Sit tight," Quentin told him as he pushed into the kitchen and went to the fridge.

Oliver didn’t say anything at all. He looked around the living room and there were pictures of Laurel on a shelf of his bookshelf. He got up and looked at them. She was so happy in all the pictures. As a little girl with a crazy grin on her face as she rode a bicycle. And with a devilish grin while she gripped a pillow. Acting in an elementary school play. And her with Sara, reading in middle school. In the middle of a lake on a jet ski when she was in high school. Doing a cartwheel in college gymnastics. When she graduated law school.   
"She’s something isn’t she?" Quentin smiled at the pictures behind him.

Oliver looked to Quentin and nodded. “She certainly is,”

The look of love in Quentin’s eyes made him wonder that if Quentin knew she’d grown up or if some part of him always imagined her as the little girl who looked up adoringly at her father for help with her bike. He didn’t know and he wasn’t in a positions to ask, but he suspected that part was still there. “So you had a question, Queen?” Quentin asked and brought Oliver out his trance.

"Yeah," Oliver said as he looked down at his shoes. "I was wondering if you’d give me your blessing."

Quentin laughed at him. That was most certainly the reaction he was definitely not expecting. Quentin looked up to Oliver who gave him an imploring look, wanting an answer, and Quentin shook his head. “Oh, I never imagined that you would be one to ask for my permission to marry my daughter.”

"That’s not what I did." Oliver defended himself.

Quentin laughed a little more. “You didn’t put it in those exact words, but that’s what you did. And let me tell you if she ever found out about it, she’d kill us both, Queen. But for what it’s worth, she could do a lot worse than you.”

"Was that a compliment?" Oliver asked with a little bit of a chuckle.

Quentin nodded and smiled a little and sighed. “If you ever tell her, I will vehemently deny it. But truth be told, she brings out the best in the guys she’s around.” He said. “And I like the man you are with her around. You’re not such a mook.”

"Thank you for the confidence in me," Oliver said as he smiled to Quentin.

Quentin shook his head. “Still can’t believe you were that innocent to believe that you should come here and ask my permission to marry Laurel.”

"I thought you would enjoy the gesture. Even if it’s a metaphorical one." Oliver shrugged. "Is that offer for a drink still on the table?" He asked.

Quentin nodded and took him to the kitchen and opened the fridge. “I got coke. Actually, I have lots of soda. And water. And some milk. And Laurel’s cranberry juice. Seriously, that girl needs to come get that stuff.” He said as he looked at it with a little bit of a grin.

"Coke sounds good," Oliver said as he put one of his hands in his pockets. "You know, I actually think this is the first time I’ve been in your apartment."

Quentin nodded. “I don’t have a lot of company. This place isn’t really big enough for it,” He said as he got a glass out of the cabinet and poured a can of coke into it. He gave it to Oliver and leaned on the counter.

The doorbell rang and both men went to go see who it was. Quentin opened the door to find Laurel at the door. “Hey sweetheart,” He said as he gave her a hug.

She opened her eyes to find Oliver in the apartment. “What are you doing here? I thought you were at work.” She said as she looked at her watch.

"Yeah, well, I needed to talk your dad." He grinned awkwardly. "I was going to go to work after we finished our talk." Oliver told her and he knew it wasn’t very convincing.

Laurel looked positively skeptical. “What were you talking about?” She asked him.

"He was looking to raise money for the Alcoholics Anonymous, but he didn’t want you guys associated with it. And so he was wondering if I would take the money and donate it in my name," He told her.

Laurel nodded and smiled to Oliver. “That’s about the sweetest thing you could do.”

"Still doesn’t excuse him cheatin’ on you." Quentin said to her.

Laurel was horrified and rolled her eyes “Dad that was years ago. He’s a different person now. I thought you realized that,” Oliver barely caught a wink from Quentin.

"Also baby, can you get your cranberry juice?" He asked her.

She huffed. “Yeah, sure dad. Look, you should really probably get going to work, okay? You have that important meeting tonight.” Laurel told him as the code. There was always an important meeting to get him out of anything and then she went in the kitchen.

He looked to Quentin and smiled. “Thank you for getting me out of a terrible lie.” He told her.

Quentin shrugged to Oliver. “You’re not the only one who’s innocent in the two of you,” He promised.

Laurel came out of the kitchen and kissed Oliver’s cheek and he blushed a little. “Come on, we should get you to your meeting,” She told him as she took his hand and looked to her dad. “We’re gonna have dinner, next week, the three of us right?”

"I don’t know, princess, I have a lot of paperwork and I don’t know, we might have to cancel," He said as he rubbed his jaw.

"Pleeeease?" She asked him.

Quentin took a moment and then nodded. “Anything for you, Laurel.”

Laurel looked to Oliver and grinned as she practically ran out the door with him. “Thank you, I love you so much.” She said before she got to the door.

And Quentin knew that soon he would have a new picture to add to her shelf, one of his cinderella on her wedding day, and with her tattooed prince of the Queen family.


	33. Lawyer Glasses

"Oliver," Laurel yelled, "Can you help me find my glasses?" She asked him.

As he came into the room and saw her rifling through the drawers to try to find her glasses. “I thought you wore contacts, baby?” He asked her as he leaned on the doorframe.

"Normally, I do." She said as she rifled through more of the drawers in the dresser and nightstand trying to find them again. "But one ripped this week and the new ones aren’t coming in for a week, so please can you help me find my glasses?" She asked him.

He shook his head. How his beautiful wife was this panicked about her glasses. “You know you can do your work from home for the week,” He told her as he gave her a kiss and smiled. He looked under the bed and huffed because it wasn’t easy to find them glasses with no light.

"I can’t, I need my glasses. I need to be able to see I have a big case coming up which will be huge for the city. Actually not huge. That’s an understatement. Enormous. Gargantuan. So these glasses, they’re like big for me, okay?" She asked him as she looked on the nightstand and felt it up.

He shrugged. He looked around. “Are you sure you left them in here?” He asked her as he looked around the room and couldn’t see any sight of the glasses that she talked about. He didn’t even know what her glasses looked like.

"I don’t know, but they are my last hope," She told him with a little bit of a whine in her voice.

He hugged her and gave her a kiss on the head. “What do your glasses look like?” He asked, softly.

"They’re black frames, kind of a little oval like?" She told him as she slouched into him.

He hugged her more tightly and looked around the bedroom. “Well, I don’t think they’re in here, but why don’t you go to the living room and see if you left them in there?” He asked her as he gave her another kiss. She was stressed as hell and he knew that they all had something at stake with her doing her job well.

And finding her glasses was a way that he could help her. Because he knew that he put her in that situation where she was taking on these big cases. The vigilante.

He stepped on something vaguely oval shaped. He didn’t hear a crack, so that was good. But he knew that stepping on her glasses, he would never hear the end of it. This was the one thing she asked him to do and he couldn’t even get it done right.

He moved his foot to see them underneath his foot and sighed with relief to find them unbroken. She would have killed him if he had broken them. He’d stay in the cave. Because there was sure as hell no way he could sleep in his own bed if he’d done that.

He looked at her practically falling over as she was bent all the way over. “How could I be so stupid?” She muttered under her breath.

He shook his head. “You’re not stupid,” He told her.

"Why can’t I find my own glasses then?’ She complained.

He laughed and held them out for her, “Because I have them.” He said as he put them on her face, “Now, there you go Lois Lane,” He smiled to her.

"It was superman who wore the glasses." She said as she wrinkled her nose. "Which would make you Lois Lane, baby,"

He shrugged. “If you got to be superman, I’d be your Lois Lane. In a heartbeat,” He promised her.

"Where did you find them?" She asked him as she combed some of her hair behind her ear and gathered up her papers from the couch.

He laughed a little. “You’re not gonna believe it,”

"I think I can take it," She promised him.

He shrugged. “I found them on the floor. I almost broke them truthfully,” He told her with a bit of a chuckle.

She couldn’t even think about what kind of hell this week would have been without her glasses. “The good news is that you didn’t break them and I don’t have to worry that a crazy person will go free simply because you stepped on my glasses.” She said playing out the worst possible scene in a Felicity like babble.

He chuckled. “Well, if it came to that I would find them again. And help you lock them up yet again.” He told her.

"Oh, buddy, you wouldn’t be sleeping in our house until you did," She said laughing a little about the thought. She smiled for the first time he saw that morning and he had faith that smile would cure all the diseases and put the morally bad people exactly where they belonged, in jail. "I should go," She said as she blushed.

"I’ll drive you to work," He told her as he took the keys off the hook and took her hand.

Laurel tugged at his hand. “You know that you don’t have to do that, I can do it on my own,” She promised him.

He nodded. “I know, but you’re my wife. And I want to do something nice for you. Let you not have to deal with the stress of driving, so you have more energy to focus on this case of the century,” He said as he got into the driver’s seat and unlocked the car.

She got in on the other side and smiled to him. “Thank you for finding my glasses. I would have been royally fucked otherwise,” She said as she sipped some of her coffee as the car started moving.

"Well, you know, that wouldn’t really be any different than any other day," He joked.

And she spit out coffee. He laughed even harder at her. “I can’t believe you just said that, Ollie,” She said as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"Why does no one think I can do jokes?" He asked.

She shrugged, “Maybe you just have one of those faces. Envious when someone else tells a joke. You might even call it Olive green.” She said as she kissed him on the cheek. “If it makes you feel any better, I pretty much get the same reaction,” She told him.


	34. Roadtrip

Felicity packed the car with all the goodies they would need and Oliver put some stuff into his suitcase reluctantly. “Are you sure this is even a good plan?” He asked. “There are so many other ways we could go to this retreat,”

Laurel shook her head. “This retreat is very remote and you can’t get to it with the limo. Besides, we’re in love. A convertible in the summer, it’s gonna be fun,” She told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and zipped up her suitcase and went into the bathroom for a few last things that they would need.

"I think you’d have a very different relationship with that kind of sun if you spent five years on an island in the middle of chinese water territory," He said with a bit of a laugh. He sighed as he looked into his suitcase. That was about as good as he was going to get it and he knew it. So he shut the case and zipped it up too.

She popped out of the bathroom with a smile. “I can drive if you want,” Laurel shrugged. She knew that despite his objections to the sun and having to take this trip, which was his plan in the first place that he would absolutely not want to give up controlling the car.

He groaned. “No, I’ll do it,” He told her. “You’re better at the reading anyway,” He told her as he hugged her from behind. She put all of the stuff that they would need for the trip that she got from the bathroom in another bag and she kissed him on the cheek. “I still don’t think this is a great plan, babe, but whatever you want,” He told her as he shrugged.

They got in the car and Felicity smiled to them. “Look, at you two, you look so happy.” She said.

"Well, that’s the plan," Laurel smiled as she got into the passenger side and put her feet on the dash.

Oliver drove off into the sun and after they got out of the city limits of Starling, he smiled to Laurel who looked great in her straw sun hat and red tanktop and shorts. “So what direction?” He asked her.

"We’re going to Arizona," She told him. "We should probably stop in Nevada though," She told him as she looked at the map.

Oliver looked over to her. “Nevada?” He asked with an eyebrow quirked up.

She shook her head. “No, not Las Vegas.” She told him.

"You are no fun, couer." He told her.

She put a CD in the CD player and looked to him as the first few lines of “Best Day of Our Life” spilled out of the speakers and she turned it up. “You say that, but we all know that’s not true, luep,” She told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and got out a book. He couldn’t believe this life.

A few hours into it, he looked to her. “You hungry?” He asked as he eyed all of the signs for food. He knew they had some in the cooler in the back, but it was so tempting just to pull over and get out and rest at somewhere they didn’t have to worry about dishes or making a mess they had to clean up.

"I could stretch my legs," She told him. "There should be a rest stop in about a mile or two." She said as she looked at her phone. She saw him groan a little. "It’ll be fun, I promise," She told him.

As he pulled into the rest stop, she unbuckled and hopped out of the car and he chuckled. He still didn’t see how he could have such a good companion. “So what did you pack for us?” He asked as he held her waist. She twirled over to the back seat of the convertible and he heard a little bit of laughter come from behind him. “Everything okay?” He asked to the old couple who seemed to have these huge grins on their face like something was manically wrong with them as he took his eyes off Laurel.

They shook their head. “No, we’re just remembering when we were just like you, on the road in a convertible. God, those were the good days,” The man said and Oliver softened to them. “You two, you’re gonna go far.”

Laurel popped her head up and smiled to him as she took out some containers that had pre made sandwiches in them. She also took a couple of sodas out and then slammed the lid back on the cooler as she came around and sat on the trunk. She gave him a sandwich and a soda and smiled to the old couple. “So you making friends?” She asked.

"Sort of," He chuckled.

The couple nodded. “Where are you headed to, dear?” The lady asked them.

"We’re on our honeymoon. We’re going down to this couple’s retreat in Gibson, Arizona. Very remote. Supposed to be very romantic," She said as she grabbed Oliver’s hand and brought his arm to cuddle her.

The old couple looked between them and smiled. “You two are very brave to be driving down to Gibson, where’d you start anyway?” They asked in curiosity. It was fair of them to ask that because they were a young couple in love who was going to Gibson. A place far away.

"We’re from Starling City," Oliver smiled to them as he took a bite of his sandwich and smiled. "And honestly, this was probably the best thing we could have done for us," He told them as he looked at Laurel with stars in his eyes. Yeah, maybe it wasn’t the smartest plan, but it brought them closer together. It gave them a chance to listen to music and to be away from everyone and be as in love as they wanted to be.

The old couple looked happy. “Well, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about falling out of love,” They said. “You’ve got that in spades,”

They ate their lunch happily and as Laurel was putting away her trash, and “A case of you” came on from their CD and he took her hand and danced with her for just a couple of minutes. “Thank you for this,” He whispered.

She blushed and shrugged. “It’s nothing. Sometimes you just need to have faith that there are people smarter than you.” She told him as they finished up the song and when it was done, they got in the car and waved to the old couple and left out of the rest stop.

"You okay that’s our future?" He asked as they got out on the road.

She nodded vigorously, “I sort of can’t wait to be that old couple who looks at young love with hope.” She told him. “You ready for it?” She asked him.

He nodded. “As long as it’s with you, that’s all I want.” He told her.


	35. Introduction to Love

Olivia came up to Quentin and Thea who were talking and climbed into Quentin’s lap. “Hey sweetheart,” He said.

"Papa, I have a question," Olivia asked as she looked up to him.

Quentin nodded. This was fairly normal for Olivia to do, so he didn’t take it any amount of shock, “Yeah?” He asked.

"When did you know mommy and daddy were in love?" She asked and blinked up to Quentin.

Quentin looked over to Thea who raised both of her eyebrows, “No, I’m interested in that story too, Quent. You seem to have changed your tune when it comes to my brother and I want to know what it took,” She told him.

"I’m going to get both of you back," He said threatening both girls but they both laughed at him and he knew that he didn’t really have that kind of power. "Okay, well, Liv, you have to understand that your daddy, he was not the kind of guy I wanted for your mommy. I wanted a nice respectable banker or computer genius, kind of like your godmommy Felicity," He said as he sighed. "And it took a long time for me to be okay with your daddy.

"One of the first times I was okay with your daddy was when he threw your Auntie Sara a party for coming back from the dead. Your daddy has this weird thing about parties. And you know, that was good and whatever, we could be friends at that point.

"But at that point Mommy was kind of sick. And she didn’t want to get help and it took a long time for her to finally get help. And when she did, she was like a different person. I never thought the new mommy would go back to your daddy. But when she was a year in recovery from being sick, your daddy threw her a party because it was like coming back from the dead, and well, that was when I knew your daddy was in love with your mommy still. Probably had always been. And always would be.

"Your mommy and daddy have this silly little thing they say all the time, always and forever. They will wait for each other, for always and forever. And at that party, I realized he wanted to wait for her, because he knew she was special.

"Of course, then I saw your mommy kiss daddy’s hand. And then later, when mommy was sitting and talking to some of her friends, he leaned over and swept her hair over to the side and gave her a peck on the neck. And I knew it wouldn’t be long till they were together again. And I realized they were different. They loved each other. They were in love with each other. And at that party, as much as it annoyed me to see your daddy with my little girl again, baby, I shook your daddy’s hand and smiled to him and said, ‘if you ever hurt my baby, i promise i will put your ass in jail for a very long time,’ and your daddy understood. And now here we are, years later, god, it seems like they were kids, but they really weren’t." Quentin told Olivia.

"That was the first time you knew that they were going to make it? Just by seeing them not even passionately kiss?" Thea asked, amazed by the story.

Laurel chuckled. “My dad likes to make it out that he’s this kind of macho guy who hates Oliver, but I think he has a soft spot for him,” Laurel said as she picked up Olivia and put her daughter on her hip.

Quentin shook his head and vehemently denied it. “He’s come a long way, but there is no way that you’re getting me to admit that,” Quentin said.

"I’m still glad that you exposed our daughter to that story. I think it’s one of the sweetest things they way you remember it," Oliver said with a smile as Laurel took Olivia to put her down for her nap.

Thea chuckled a little as she looked at Oliver. “You always smile at each other. It’s weird to see you and Lioness not in a good place, but there were the days. I guess it just makes you appreciate the good days even more.” She said as she shrugged.

Oliver laughed. “Yeah, those days seem so long ago, I mean we didn’t have Olivia and we weren’t married and there was just so much we worried about back then.” He couldn’t imagine his life without Laurel. Those five years and then the five months he spent on the Island weren’t easy on him, being away from her.

"I actually like that story too," Laurel said as she smoothed her dress when she came back. "It also how my dad is totally ass backwards about love, no matter how much he says he hates one of the people in love," She said as she cocked her hand on her hip and looked to her dad with a devilish grin.

Quentin shook his head. “I plea the fifth on this one.” He told her as he got up, “I’m gonna get another glass of soda, don’t make a mockery of my name,” He said as he looked his daughter in the eye.

"Don’t need too, you do that just fine on your own dad," Laurel shouted at him.

Thea looked at her brother and his wife, “You guys should totally have another one of those parties. I mean it’s been awhile since we’ve done a party,” She told them.

"We actually can’t have a sober party again," Laurel said as she broke the news to Thea.

Thea took that in and her jaw dropped. “I thought AA, that mean you didn’t drink at all.”

"Truthfully, I haven’t been to AA in awhile. And I only have one drink a night and that’s when I have Oliver with me to help keep me to my promise," She told her.

Thea chuckled. “That is crazy,” She told them.

They both shook their head. Laurel started to explain. “It was making me cranky not to be able to with everyone. And there were times when it was just not feasible not to drink, especially on missions. But it really affected my social life. And it made me sad.”

"And so we came up with a compromise to keep her on the good path," Oliver said as he kissed her fingers delicately. "And she’s not been drunk since," He told Thea as he smiled at the sight of his beautiful wife.

"God, get a room," Thea said as she made a face of disgust.

Quentin came over and smiled. “You look really comfortable, kid,” He said as he took a sip of his soda.

"Yeah, well they’re making googly eye smiles at each other," Thea said.

Quentin shook his head. “Yeah, they do that.”


	36. Childhood Jolie

Oliver knocked on Laurel’s office door and she looked up from her file and smiled at him. “Hey, stranger,” She said as she closed the folder and got up and put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss.

He gave her a kiss and smiled. “Happy Birthday, Laurel,” He told her. He reached for something in his back pocket and he gave it to her. “I know that you said you didn’t want presents this year, but I couldn’t resist getting you something,” He said as he put it in her hands and waited for her to open it.

She looked up at him and then looked down to the present. “You didn’t have to. I meant it when I said no presents,” She told him as she took the piece of ribbon of the top and turned the present over and unstuck the tape. The paper fell to the ground and in her hand were two pieces of paper.

She looked up to him and he shook his head. “Turn them over,” He told her.

She did as he told and saw that the pieces of paper, were not just pieces of paper, but plane tickets. To Paris. “Oliver, I don’t know what to say,” She said as her eyes watered with joy. She hugged him tightly.

He knew why she had no words. It was the reason he’d gotten these tickets in the first place.

When they were fifteen and he was interested in what girls liked, he looked her straight in the eye as he lounged on his bed and asked, if money were no object, where would she like a boy to take her. Of course, he had to make sure to tell her that this was only for information gathering purposes and that he definitely did not want to date her in the slightest. No sir. No way.

And she thought about it for several minutes and when she looked back to him and smiled in the way that made his knees jiggle even then and said “Paris,” He knew her as a romantic.

Tommy of course would swear that this was the first time that Oliver had ever shown any interest in what girls really liked and it was all because Laurel showed him the way. Which he would vehemently deny for many years. “Why there?” He asked in his croaky fifteen year old voice.

And Laurel who sat straight and proud looked him in the eye and gently but firmly smiled. “A boy has all that he can offer you, what really means the most is the thought. All the money in the world can’t buy romance. Can’t make it real. But if he loves you, he’ll know what you want. He’ll know that the most romantic city in the world is Paris. And yeah, that might be stereotypical, but if he really loves, he doesn’t care. He’ll take a picture of the both of you while he kisses you in front of the eiffel tower while trying to make sure he doesn’t get pickpocketed.”

"You know a lot about this kind of stuff," Oliver said back then.

She shrugged. “I’ve had the chance to think about it once or twice, believe it or not,” She told him and that was that. They were back to their normal selves. But he thought about that answer a lot when he was a kid. He never took a girl to Paris. In his lifetime. He met a couple of girls in Paris. And sometimes they ended up in Paris. But he never expressly took a girl to Paris.

They talked about going to Paris before he went off to the island. Before he went on that boat trip. For their anniversary, he wanted to surprise her with Paris. It didn’t work out. Life got in the way.

Older now, and wiser than he was at fifteen, he realized that she was telling him exactly what he could do for her. She thought about it because she’d been asked by all the girls what she would do if Tommy or he could take her anywhere. “A boy has all that he can offer you, what really matters most is the thought,” He whispered gently into her ear.

She looked up at him and smiled. “God, I was pretentious back then, wasn’t I?” She asked him witha bit of a laugh.

He shook his head. “You were perfect back then. And you’re perfect now,” He told her.

"I can’t believe you got me Paris." She told him as she looked at the tickets. She almost didn’t believe it. She kept waiting to wake up from the dream and be back at her desk with a neck crick, but it never came. This was real.

He shrugged. “I hope you still like Paris. I know things have changed since then, but I figured you hadn’t said anything different. And there’s still a picture of the eiffel tower on your laptop, it was still a pretty good bet.”

"I still like Paris," She promised him as she kissed him once again. She smiled to him. "This just means I’m really going to have to up the ante for your birthday," She told him.

He nodded. “I thought you might say that, so I wanted you to also have this,” He said taking something from his other pocket.

He put it in her hand and she looked down at it and then back up to him. “I can’t do this. Seriously the plane tickets are nice, bu4t I can’t take a black amex on your dime.”

"You can and you will. Now, you have no excuse not to get me a kickass birthday present. And knowing you, you’ll find something spectacular. Besides, all I want to do is share with you," He told her.

She looked down at the card and then raised an eyebrow at him, “And you’re sure about this?” She asked him as she eyed the card in her hand.

He nodded. “Surer than anything.” He told her as he wrapped his arms around her and relaxed. “Oh,” He said, “Those tickets, are first class all the way to Paris too. Thought you might want to travel in style,” He told her.

"You’re grooming me into your lifestyle," She told him as she poked him in the side.

He shrugged. “Is it really so bad to enjoy the little things?” He asked.

"This is not so little," She told him with a grin.

He rolled his eyes and he looked down, “You knew what I meant,”

"I did." She told him as she nuzzled into his chest. "I love you."

"Always and forever?" He asked.

She nodded. “Always and forever.”


	37. Fix You

"Are you sure about this?" Felicity asked, excited about the performance that was about to happen. This was by far the most romantic thing she’d ever had the hope to see and to be fair, it wasn’t her romantic moment, but she knew that she would find a guy who wanted to sing to her as much as Laurel wanted to sing to Oliver.

Laurel nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure about this, you make sure he’s out there?” She asked Felicity as she finished pinning up her hair. She breathed in once and then out once and Felicity scurried out. It was going to be good. They were going to be good. She was going to sing and it would be awesome. She looked away from the mirror and Felicity was peeking out of a curtain.

She looked back to Laurel and gave her a thumb’s up. Laurel tucked one stray hair behind her ear and smiled to the mirror. It was going to be okay.

She went around and smiled as she was welcomed onstage. “So thank you for coming to the third annual CNRI benefit gala. Although that is a bit of a misnomer now,” she said as she looked at the ground for a minute, “But I couldn’t in my heart change it, because three years ago a dear friend threw this benefit to help my legal office work to keep helping this community. And this year instead of that legal office we are setting up a bereavement fund for the great men and women of public service.

"I’ll let everyone get to dancing and the auctions and food and each other in a minute, but there’s something that I think Tommy would want. He always encouraged us to do what were afraid of, because it would help others to see that they weren’t so alone. And so tonight, I’m gonna sing you a song," She said and the crowd went a little wild. The music started behind her and Oliver looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "This is dedicated to my two dearest friends, Tommy and Oliver, for always being there to help fix things," She said.

"What’s she doing?" Oliver asked Felicity.

Felicity shrugged. “Just watch,” She told him.

"When you try your best but don’t succeed…" She started singing, and she smiled to Oliver as she caressed the microphone and he realized what she was singing. "When you get what you want, but not what you need,"

He shook his head and smiled up to her. It had been so long since he heard this song in a way that didn’t make him want to vomit, and of course, she would be the one to help bring it back to him. “I can’t believe it, she remembered this.” He said as the smile got bigger and Felicity looked at him in a little confusion and awe.

"This meant something to the two of you," She told him. It wasn’t even a question. It was a statement of the facts.

He nodded. “Yeah, this was our song. The three of us. Tommy sang it to us the first time she got a bad grade on a test,” He told her as he looked up to her and she smiled. He could feel his heart hurt in all the ways that it did back then. It took on new meaning now that he was gone. Tommy was gone. Laurel had boozed up for a while, but here she was singing their song.

"Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you," Her voice crooned.

Felicity pushed him up to the stage, “What are you doing?” He asked as he tried to stop her. She was surprisingly forceful for a little thing.

She shook her head. “I’m not letting you blow this. Get up there and sing it with her,” She told him. “It will be romantic and these people will love it and they will donate lots of money for her, which is what Tommy did at the first one and it worked out pretty well for him,” She told him.

He got up on the stairs and smiled to Laurel as he took another microphone and he grinned at her, “And high up above or down below. When you’re too in love to let it go. But if you never try you’ll never know. Just what you’re worth” He sang to her as he got closer and as the next verse came around, he took her hand in his and kissed it before he sang with her, “Lights will guide you home. And ignite your bones. And I will try to fix you,”

The audience was transfixed and Felicity took a minute to see how they were doing and there a few tears shed. She couldn’t believe they were going for this so well. She never intended to push Oliver up on that stage, he was supposed to just watch her sing.

Oliver and Laurel stood perpendicular to the crowd, but parallel and opposite each other and for the next verse, Oliver smiled as he took the next verse, “Tears stream down your face,” He caressed her cheek with the utmost love, he’d ever seen out of anyone. Anywhere. Period. “When you lose something you cannot replace. Tears stream down your face. And I…”

And it was true now that tears ran down Laurel’s face, but Laurel was smiling through the tears. She looked at him with the majesty she would a lion as she took the verse after his. “Tears stream down your face. I promise you I will learn from my mistakes. Tears stream down your face. And I…” She mimicked him with the stroking of his cheek and the goofy smile and she couldn’t be happier.

Felicity was really glad that this thing was a gala that had cameras everywhere because they were idiots who were going to miss how magical this was. Although, Felicity had a feeling they knew exactly how magical it was up there.

And as the last swell of music played for them, they looked each other in the eye and nodded lightly. “Lights will guide you home. And ignite your bones. And I will try to fix you,” They both sang and it was amazing. The crowd jumped to their feet and congratulated them for a ballad well performed. For a love that was real and honest between the both of them.

Oliver looked to her and shook his head and smiled to her, “You know, this song always had a special place in my heart,” He told her.

She nodded. “Yeah, I kind of figured,” She grinned at him. “I wanted to say thank you for the last year. Thank you for bringing me back,” She told him as she blushed. “Thank you for fixing me,”

He shook his head. “I didn’t do any of that. All I did was give you a little push,” He said as he hugged her. “You did it all on your own. And as much as Tommy would have loved this. You forgot to dedicate this to you, because you were always fixing things too.”

"Dance Mr. Queen?" She asked him as she held out her arm.

He took her arm and smiled. This was the first party he’d been to, where he saw her smile and where he smiled as much as he did. “You know, I think that’s gonna be our song forever.”

"Always and forever," She told him.

He nodded. “Always and forever,”


	38. Better than Revenge

Laurel stood on the balcony and looked down on the party with Felicity with a smile. She and Oliver were doing well and the Queen Gala was off to a great start. Everything was perfect. Then she saw Cassandra and Oliver in a corner of the party, away from everyone, and she frowned. She pursed her lips.

"Who’s that?" Felicity asked as she saw where Laurel’s eyes were.

Laurel shook her head. Cassandra could be so desperate for attention. She just couldn’t believe that Cassandra had the audacity to do this at the Queen Gala. “That’s Cassandra Cole,” She said as she stared at them still.

"Wait, that’s Cassandra Cole?" Felicity asked as she looked down in a little bit more of an excited manner, in a schadenfreude way. "Isn’t that girl always sleeping with costars and directors and like constantly unabashedly flashing cameras? What the hell does she want with Oliver?" Felicity chuckled.

Laurel nodded. “His money,” She said with finality and she went down the stairs.

Felicity looked over and saw what was going to go on and ran after Laurel, “Do you think what you’re about to do is such a good idea?” She asked with worry in her voice.

Laurel shook her head. “Trust me, Cassandra has had this coming for a long time,” She told Felicity as she picked her dress up by the darts, so she didn’t step on it. “Cassandra has always had a thing for my boyfriends, especially Oliver, but not today,” She told Felicity.

"How come I’ve never heard about this girl from either you or Oliver Queen?" Felicity asked.

Laurel chuckled through a forced smile, “Because I underestimated who I was dealing with. And Oliver had five years to forget this woman,” She told Felicity.

Felicity just followed Laurel who went straight through the party and it was like she was moses. She parted the party like the red sea and headed straight to Oliver and Cassandra.

Cassandra of course could not help but make sure that Oliver got a VIP screening of her cleavage and when she saw Laurel, Cassandra upped her game. Felicity shook her head. This girl had no idea who she was dealing with.

"Oh, look, it’s your little friend and one of her loser friends," Cassandra squealed at Oliver and Oliver immediately lost whatever trance he was in.

Laurel shook her head. “Oh Cassandra, I thought I would never have to see your face again. Or your interesting fashion choices,” She told her with the smile of the aristocratic.

Oliver slid a hand across Laurel’s back and she shook her head. Oliver took his hand and put on top of his other one. That only meant one thing and it wasn’t a good thing.

"Well, you know, Oliver and I were just talking about how amazing my new movie is gonna be. You’re really gonna like it. It’s about a cranky lawyer lady who finds that she can’t keep her man when a hot amazing actress comes to town. Oliver even said he’d be willing to finance it." Cassandra said as she looked down to Laurel, like a trend she was so over.

Laurel nodded. “Well, as amazing as that sounds, it’s not filming in Starling,” She told her.

It took Cassandra a minute, but her face dropped. “You can’t do that,” Cassandra sputtered.

"Oh, but I can. As the district attorney, I can put as many roadblocks as I want in your path. And I will put roadblocks in front of this movie for years if I have to." Laurel smiled that gleeful smile of someone who had all the leverage in the world. Someone who the world was going incredibly right for.

Cassandra frowned to her. “You wouldn’t let her do that Ollie?” She asked him as she smiled and blinked, knowing the old Oliver would have rolled over backwards for the fame and glory.

"Cass, it was nice talking to you." Oliver said as he slid his arm around Laurel’s waist, surprised to see that she accepted that contact.

The smile turned into a jaw drop. “What the hell Oliver? I thought we were friends? Where did the guy I used to know go?” She asked him, sputtering more.

"Come on, Cass. We all knew that you weren’t here to be my friend," He told her and he looked at Laurel and gave her a kiss, before he looked at Cassandra. "And the guy you knew, he doesn’t live here anymore."

Cassandra looked between the two of them disgusted. “You know, she’s an ugly hoe anyway,”

"Apologize," Oliver said through gritted teeth as he held Cassandra in the same place.

Cassandra shrugged out of his grip, “Or what? You’re gonna blacklist me? Please Queen, you’re not the only billionaire with a stupid girlfriend in this town. You don’t own this town,” She yelled.

"Oh by the way, Cassandra," Laurel said, "Say hi to all your fans," She grinned.

Cassandra looked around the room and saw all the people looking at her. “Is this some sick game of revenge?” She asked Laurel. “For trying to steal your boyfriend? Well if you were more interesting, he wouldn’t have thought about straying,” She told her with a tenuous grin.

Laurel smiled to Cassandra and put her hand around Oliver’s waist, “Cassandra this is better than revenge. Because you did it all by yourself. And while my man can appreciate other women’s beauty, he knows that what he gets at home is way more than he could get with anyone else,” She said. “Now, leave.”

And as Cassandra did, Laurel looked over to Felicity who shook her head. “You two are the weirdest couple I know,” She told them.

"This coming from the girl who has a tattooed pierced girlfriend who lives off the grid?" Laurel asked.

Oliver kissed Laurel’s temple. “You know I was a little worried that was going to be a little bit more dramatic than it was. And a lot more violent,” He told her.

Laurel shook her head. “Didn’t need to be. Cassandra was never a saint. All she had to do was show how much dignity she didn’t have.” Laurel smiled up to him.

"I can’t believe you let this girl deal with that for so long, Oliver," Felicity told him.

He shrugged. “Laurel could handle herself,” Oliver told her. “Besides, I think we were waiting for a time like this. Trust me, it would have been worse if Laurel had getten this chance before I went on the island.” He told Felicity.

"And that would have been because I love you," She told him.

He nodded. “I know. And I love you too.”


	39. Lost Girl Returned

A year and a half after she gave birth to Tommy, a woman came up to her office at the courthouse. “We need to leave now,” The woman said as she looked around to make sure that no one was watching them.

"I can’t leave now," Laurel said as she looked up from her book, "I have work. I have a family. No." She told the other lady and turned back away from her.

The woman shook her head. “I don’t think you get it, if we don’t leave, your entire family, including your baby boy, they’re going to die. I need you to come now,”

Laurel put her book down, “How the fuck do I know that I can trust you? As far as I know, you’re just some crazy woman who came in off the street who is going to kidnap and you know, I really don’t have time for that,” She told her as she closed the book on it.

The woman tossed her a phone. “It’s untraceable. Call out. And then we need to leave,” She told Laurel.

Laurel took the phone and called out the first number on the phone. “Laurel, is that you?”

"Sara?" Laurel asked.

Sara nodded into the phone. “It’s me, I need you to go with Talia. If you don’t they kill me. And you can’t bring Ollie or Ted or anybody. I’m sorry,” She told Laurel.

"You’re asking me to abandon my family for I don’t know how long, Sara are you sure?" She asked.

Sara cried a little. “I promise, I wouldn’t be asking if there was another way,” She told her.

"I’m coming," She told Sara as she looked to Talia and nodded. She hung up.

Talia took the phone as Laurel threw it back to her. “You ready?” She asked.

Laurel nodded. “Yeah, we have to do something first,” She told Talia as they got into Laurel’s car.

Two years later, she came back home and watched Oliver and Olivia and Tommy from the trees. They were looking at a gravestone. Talia stood behind her. “You can go to them, you know,” She told Laurel.

Laurel shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to say to my kids,” She told Talia as she wiped a tear away. “All they know is their mom is dead now,” She told her.

Thea came out and gave Oliver a kiss on the cheek and took Tommy and Olivia into the house. “Now there is your chance, it’s only him,” She told Laurel as she pushed her out of the bushes.

It was enough noise, the scuffle between Talia and Laurel that Oliver looked over and saw her. He dropped the picture that he held in his hand.

She blushed as she stepped forward. He put his hands on her face, just to feel that she was real. “You eluded me for so long. I waited for you to come back. Everyone thought I was crazy to think you were still alive. That crash was pretty convincing. But why did you abandon us?” He asked as he realized that he should be angry a little more than happy.

She shook her head and held his wrists and smiled sadly up to him. “They were gonna kill you. And they were gonna kill Sara. And they were going to kill our children. I needed to go. And I couldn’t tell you or you’d come looking for me. And I couldn’t have you looking for me.” She told him as the tears ran down her face.

"You were gone two years, two years and a car crash," He told her as he wiped the tears angrily from his eyes.

She smiled a little sadly, “It’s different, but this pain you’re feeling, this deep inside you pain of abandonment. I felt that everyday for five years. Five years of you with my sister.” She told him as she wiped away some of his tears.

"The kids are gonna nut up when they see you," Oliver said as he shook his head and managed a smile.

Laurel laughed a little, “You know that I thought about you guys everyday.” She told him as she took a picture out of her pants pocket and showed him a picture of the kids and Oliver, one of the pictures she loved so much. Playing with the both of them.

"I thought I lost this picture," He told her as he looked up from the picture and into her eyes. "I wanted this picture out of your car. I knew you loved it so much. But I found the picture of all four of us." He told her as he picked up his picture from the ground and gave it to her.

She nodded to him. “I wanted the last thing you saw of me, is me with you. I wanted you to know I didn’t want to abandon you. And I couldn’t let this picture,” She said as she held up hers. “I couldn’t let it be the only thing you had of me, because you needed hope that I could come back,” She told him.

"Are you ready for your rebirth?" He asked her. "The kids are inside. Thea. Everyone." He told her. He wanted to take her inside, but the look on her face made him frown. "What’s wrong?" He asked.

She shook her head. “I abandoned them. They’re gonna hate me.” She told him as she thought about going in and seeing her kids. She wanted to do it so much, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t go and tell them that the world was complicated and that sometimes mommies have to go away for two years and not call.

He hugged her and kept her tight in his body. He kissed her hair and breathed in her scent. “They’ll understand I think better than you give them credit for.” He told her. “But we should probably get you to the hospital to make sure that you are all right,” He told her in a whisper.

She nodded to him. “Thank you for understanding,” She told him as she let out a breathe.

He shrugged. “You’re my love, I’m always going to understand, besides we always said that you got the next big adventure with no one knowing. I just didn’t think it was going to be when we had kids.” He told her as they went around the side of the house. Thankfully, there was no cameras or anything, because they would really have something to see with her.

"I’m glad you didn’t move on from me," She admitted to him.

He chuckled a little as he put her in the car. “I could never. I love you. Always and forever.”

She nodded to him. “Always and forever.”

"I’m gonna run in to tell Thea and the adults in there where I’m going, but I’ll be right back, okay?" He asked.

She smiled to him. “Hurry back.”

"Oh, trust me, I’ll be back in a flash."


	40. Wedding Vows

Laurel looked into Oliver’s eyes as the officiant smiled to the crowd, “And now the happy couple will recite their own vows instead of the more traditional fare which makes women out to be property and men to be masters, because come on, that’s kind of outdated,” The officiant joked and looked to Laurel, “The wife to be,” He smiled.

Laurel looked at her and Oliver’s hands clasped together and smiled and then looked up to him, “Oliver,” She said as she started, “I have known you longer than anyone. You have been there for me through most of the good times and most of the bad. And it hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes it has been hard work, but you know, I think that’s the beauty of it.

"I remember the first time I said I loved you, all those years ago. You were driving me back home from our second date, which was dinner with your parents and bear. I thought I knew your mother before then, but no, I really didn’t. You really introduced me to her that night. And you drove me back home. And in the car, I told you I loved you. And I remember how it felt to say it.

"It felt like being free. It felt like the freedom I had always wanted and never thought I could get in a man. And it still feels like that, everyday. And I want to keep saying I love you to. Through the good times and the bad. Always and forever, Oliver. Through all the ups and downs, good times and bad, it’s all worth it just to have you by my side, always and forever." She said as she slipped the ring on his finger and smiled to the officiant who nodded back to her.

He nodded to Oliver, “And now for the great husband to be,” He told Oliver.

Oliver looked into Laurel’s eyes and smiled brighter than he had in a long time. “Laurel, through five years of being stranded on an island in the middle of the Chinese Sea, there was only one person I wanted to see when I came back and that was you.

"I have fucked up my chances with you so many times and I don’t know what I ever did to get this one, but I promise from now until the end of time, I want to be with you. I want to make sure that you are cared for when you’re sick or hungry or upset. It’s all I have ever wanted to do.

"When Tommy encouraged me all those many years ago to take you to that theme park, I remember being so excited when you said yes. I remember how when you smiled I got butterflies in my stomach, how no woman had ever made me feel like that and never did. I remember how surreal when it was. I still feel those butterflies when I see you smile. And I think I’m always going to and you know, I can work with that." He told her as he smiled at his shoes before he looked back up to her. "There was never any doubt in my mind that we were ever gonna be with anyone else. It’s you and me, always and forever, and god, I hope I get to spend always and forever making you happy." He told her as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

"And now the happy couple may totally kiss to seal their marriage," The officiant said with a wide grin and joking tone. Oliver took Laurel into his arms and they kissed tastefully, not too much tongue. As they leaned away, she smiled to him as she took his hand and ran down the aisle, with their wedding guests not believing what just happened. There were a million pictures being taken of course, because they let this become the biggest event of the year, no one who was anyone said no to the wedding of Mr. Oliver Queen and Mrs. Dinah Laurel Lance.

She looked into his eyes and smiled, “Happy?” She asked him.

"About being married to you?" He asked as he scoffed, "Always." He told her. "Now, are you ready to be Mrs. Lance-Queen?" He asked her.

She nodded. “Yep, I’m totally ready to be Mrs. Lance-Queen. You knew right before you went on the boat trip, Sara called me Mrs. Laurel Queen when she was trying to cut me down. When you guys were gone, I thought those words would never come true.” She told him as she blushed.

He picked up her chin and smiled to her. “Well, I guess you just didn’t have enough faith in me. I’m always gonna try to make you happy. Even if it means coming back from the dead. I do what I can,” He told her as he shrugged.

"Mr. Lance-Queen, you make me happier than a mosquito at a blood drive," She told him as she brought his hand up to her lips and kissed his knuckles. "I mean every single last word in those vows," She told him as she looked at their reception and shook her head. "This place is going to become a madhouse," She told him.

He nodded. “And I meant every single one of mine,” He told her and he chuckled, yeah, this place was going to be pretty packed. “It’s our introduction to the world as the greatest person in the world and the man who got to marry her. It should be big,” He told her as she scrunched his nose. “You should probably get changed into your reception dress,” He told her.

"You going to be right here? Or do you want to come with?" She asked him with a devilish smile.

He shook his head. “You know that if I go back there, it’s not going to end with another dress on, so you go, I’ll be right here when you get back, I promise,” He told her as smiled at their wedding planner who saw Laurel model swagger off with a smirk.

"You two are something," The wedding planner said as she shook her head.

He shrugged. “And it’s all real,” He told her. “How great is that?”


	41. Invisible Defender

After a long night of crimefighting, Laurel and Oliver got into bed and cuddled. Oliver around her waist, with his head on her stomach as she read on her ipad and the news on low in the background. As the news went on about some billionaire who was selling his company for more billions so that he could spend his time backpacking in style through Europe, Laurel scrolled the schedule she had planned for the next day, busy busy. “Is everything okay?” He asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m just, if I’m going to keep going at this pace, I think I might need to face facts and hire an assistant or two,” She said as she looked at her schedule. There was so much to do.

He looked up to her and smiled. “You know that you don’t have to take it all on. We can cut back what you need to do with the team to get you to a better place,” He said and she simply shook her head. He knew not to push it farther than that, because he didn’t need a full blown argument on his hands. They had enough on their plate, he knew that was definitely not something he wanted.

"And it seems like Law Enforcement again chose the right path as the Arrow once again saved our city last night from a terrorist who wanted to bring down the city…" The news said as Laurel turned it up.

Oliver shook his head and Laurel looked at him. “What are you shaking your head at? This is our accomplishment,” She told him as she pressed a kiss on his forehead.

He continued shaking his head. “I just don’t see why you like the news, all it does is bring pain most of the time,” He told her as he shrugged.

"Because it’s my job to know what people are worried about," She told him as she looked back to her ipad and moved around some meetings and sent a bunch of emails before here attention was fully focused on listening to the news.

The footage cut to the newscaster, April Roberts looked stonefaced into the camera, “The terrorist seemed to have been working alone in the malice he intended to reign down upon the city and he is currently in the custody of the Starling City Police Department, courtesy of the vigilante everyone calls the Arrow. Back to you Davin,” She said as she threw it back to the desk where Davin went on like it was nothing leaving her out of a story that was supposed to be hers.

Laurel sat there with her mouth open. Oliver leaned over to see where the remote was to turn it down, “What’s wrong?” He asked her.

Laurel shook her head and blinked twice at him. “What’s wrong?” She asked, incredulous. “Leup, that wasn’t your win. We work together and I love you and I could not do this without you, but that Terrorist, last night, that was my win. And they gave it to you.”

"You’re annoyed because they didn’t mention your vigilantism? Isn’t that a good thing? I mean apparently you’re better than me at this kind of work." He asked with an eyebrow up.

She nodded. “Of course I’m mad. I’m a protector of truth and just not some rapscallion assassin, which by the way is the job you’re thinking of when you describe vigilantism that way. Wouldn’t you be mad if they gave your credit away. I was the one that gave him to the police. And they think it’s you.”

"It’s just a silly news story that no one saw. I mean it’s on at two am. No one watches the news at that time, except you," He said as he kissed her stomach.

She shook her head and picked up her ipad from the nightstand. “It’s the integrity of the thing. I mean don’t journalists need to have the facts or are at the very least supposed to have the facts?” She asked him as she started angrily poking her ipad.

He sat up and put his hand on the ipad and took it away from her for just a minute. “You’re not gonna change the story, by calling someone out. They don’t need us to tell on them. And besides, if you do, you’re probably gonna blow the whole thing,”

"But it’s not fair," She whined as she gestured to the tv with her whole arm a bit dramatically.

He nodded. “I know, but it’s gonna take time. And we’re gonna make them see you, I promise, but we just can’t do it this way,” He told her in a calm rational voice. “I want you on my team. I always have,” He told her.

Laurel cracked a smile, “Yeah, I mean I was the first person to help the Arrow,” She told him in a conspiratorial tone.

He laughed and nodded. “You did. No one can ever take that away from you. As much as Diggle might was important, you were the most important. Seeing you fight the good fight, it’s always helped me.” He told her in a hushed whisper.

Her hand stroked his hair and she looked out into space for a moment and he knew that all was forgiven. She took her ipad though and smiled, “We’re still gonna call them with the arrow voice, right?” She asked him with glee.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “If that’s what you really want, I guess we can do that,” He said as snuggled in to get ready to go to bed.

She finished up on her ipad and put it back on the nightstand, “I don’t actually want you to do that, but next time I do something and they give the credit to you, then we might have a serious discussion about it. It just annoys me.” She told him as she snuggled more into him.

He nodded. “I can understand, but it just takes a little time. I promise, we’ll figure it out, just like we’ll figure out this assistant situation, do I even want to know how bad it is,” He asked with a little bit of a chuckle.

She raised an eyebrow, “Do you really want me to get the ipad back on?” She asked him.

He shook his head. “For now, let’s just go to sleep and in the morning, we’ll watch the news and you’ll show me how badly you need an assistant, okay?” He asked.

"You want to get up with me?" She asked him.

He shrugged. “It’s the least I can do since they gave me your credit.”

"Cleaning up someone else’s mess, even when you don’t have to, I knew there was a reason I loved you." She said as she gave him a light kiss.

"Always and forever?" He asked her in a whisper.

She nodded and blushed, “Always and forever,” She whispered back.


	42. Pregnancy Limbo

It was the middle of the afternoon, when he opened the door to their apartment, and found that it was open. He went on heightened alert when he saw a light on in the bathroom, he pushed the door open slightly and saw that Laurel was home and in there. “Laurel?” He asked.

"Oliver?" She asked right back as she looked to the counter and then looked back up to him. "I didn’t think you were going to be home so early," She told him as her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He had a meeting he’d skipped out on, because he needed to take a nap. and he wanted to do it in his own bed.

He looked down to the counter where there was some kind of dish on the counter. “What’s going on in here?” He asked, confused about the whole thing. He was really confused that she was home. She was never home until late.

She got off the toilet and smiled to him. “Now, don’t freak out,” She said as she grabbed his wrists. “But my period’s late.” He didn’t understand and his eyebrows furrowed and she nodded and laughed a little because it was amazing how much he didn’t know about the world. How much though he saved it, it was just a noble cause for him. “Oliver, I might be pregnant,” She told him breaking out into a smile.

It stunned Oliver to think about pregnancy. He never thought about it before, but the idea, he loved it. “Are you ready for this?” He asked her as he picked her up and spun her in a small circle and then put her back on the ground. He could be a dad. God, that was exciting. He’d had the chance before, but he wasn’t ready for, but this, this her wanted.

She nodded. “It might not happen. I mean I’ve been working pretty hard in the past few months to level up canary powers, but it could be happening. I could be having a baby.”

He hugged her from behind and put his chin on her shoulder, “We’re always going to love you, no matter what, you know that right?” He asked

She nodded. “We could be having a baby though,” She told him with the hugest grin on her face. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one excited about the prospect of parenthood. He never thought this would happen to them. That they would both be ready at the same time.

Her phone tinkled a tune out and she took the dish off the counter and he saw the pregnancy test. She reached for it and brought it up to their face and to be fair, he wasn’t sure what it was going to say. “We are…” She said as she looked at the book. Her face fell though, and it was easy to tell even if she didn’t say a word what the answer was. “We’re not…I’m not, I’m not pregnant,” She brokenly whispered.

He spun her around in his arms. They weren’t going to be parents. “We can try now,” He told her into her hair. “This is just the first time. We’ll have plenty of other times,” He said as he wiped some of the tears away from her face that were falling softly.

She blinked and looked up at him. “What if it doesn’t work?” She asked him quietly. “What if god is punishing me? Everyone else is getting pregnant, and I’m just not,” She told him as she held the stick in her hands and looked at it with a little disgust.

He shook his head. “First off, you don’t believe in God. And secondly, God nor Fate is punishing you because they don’t have anything to punish you for. You’re amazing and beautiful. And we’ll get through this, I promise,” He told her as he took her back into a hug. “We’re going to be parents. Even if we have to adopt kids, okay? I thought was what you wanted to do anyway,” He told her gently.

She shrugged. When they talked about the future before, it seemed like kids of their own would never be feasible, but even just the hope in that moment, made her want to try it. Made her want someone to call her own. Someone she could give life to. “I just want to try. I want to try to be a mom the biological way.” She said as she cried gently into his chest.

He nodded to her and stroked her hair. “We’ll figure it out, okay? Even if it’s just the two of us. But this is just the first try, okay? And that’s the beauty of this test,” He said as he picked up the box from the other side of the counter, “This test, this is one that we can buy again and again and try again and again.”

"You wouldn’t leave me if I couldn’t?" She asked as she looked up to him. She knew a lot of men who would. She didn’t blame them either, but it did make things a little bit more challenging for women who couldn’t have babies. It seemed like such a set in stone idea that motherhood and biological babies secured your place as a woman. It would seem silly to her when she wasn’t the giant puddle of tears she was, but at that moment, she didn’t want that taken away from her.

He took her by the chin and looked her deep in the eye, “I promise, that even if we can’t get a brood of adopted babies to fill the halls with stockings and laughter, I promise you and I, it’s always and forever. Always has been. Always will be.” He told her as he kissed her head a couple of times.

She nodded and threw the box and the test in the trash and smiled to him. “We’ll try again and we’ll figure it out together,” She told him as she took him by the hand and led him out of the bathroom.

"I’m just glad that we both want this," He told her, "Both want a family of our own."

She laughed a little bit about it, thinking about it. “You know, I’m glad this one didn’t work out. Glad it will be a little while. Because it’s gonna take people a little time to adjust to the idea that we could be parents.” She told him as they went out and sat on the living room couch.

He grinned. “Like your father? Can’t imagine what he’s gonna say when we tell him.”

"Doesn’t matter," She said. He went to poke her nose and she scrunched her face up and looked him in the eye. "Because that’s just another test we’re gonna ace," She told him and the hope in her voice, that felt real.


	43. The Exception

He’s had nightmares for seven years. About his father’s death. Yao Fei’s. Shado’s. Slade’s. His Mother’s. Sara’s. Twice. He went through so many moments that he wanted to die. He wanted to join them. In the seven years since he got on that boat, he’s had a nightmare every night. Except one. The one glorious night, he got to sleep by her.

And after the big battle with Slade, he was not in the place of denying himself creature comforts.

He showed up to her apartment, late, and she opened the door in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. “What are you doing here?” She asked him as she laughed a little at his appearance. “You look like you haven’t slept in weeks,” She said as he came in and she shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it.

"Probably because I haven’t really, gotten to sleep." He admitted.

Her eyes bugged out and she took him by the hand and sat him down on the couch, “I want you to explain this to me, okay? Ollie, if you need meds, we can get you some meds. But you shouldn’t be running your body ragged like this,” She told him as she combed through the side of his hair with her nails and that felt surprisingly good.

He sighed. “Laurel, I want to go to sleep. I just can’t. I haven’t really been able to sleep for seven years. The thing is I get really vivid nightmares now, which only allow me a few hours of sleep at max. And lately, knowing that I’ve had to die hasn’t helped things along.” He told her as he looked down at their hands. “The only time I remember sleeping through the night is with you,” He told her as he kissed her knuckles gently.

She nodded as she took in all the information. He was a hero. She knew that maybe he didn’t see himself that way, the way the old Oliver definitely would have. She smoothed over some of his hair. “So how’s it work? We just sleep in the same bed and you go to sleep, no nightmares, no nothing through the night?” She asked him.

He shrugged. “Hopefully,” He told her.

She nodded once again. “So what do I do if you have a nightmare and it wakes me up?” She asked him.

"Just like you’re doing right now," He said as he cupped her face. "Laurel, you have always known the best ways to comfort me. I trust you completely, mind, body, and soul."

She grabbed his hand and tugged him up. “Well, then we should get you ready for bed. Because I have a long day at work tomorrow, cleaning up this mess,” She told him with a smile.

"They’re already starting cleanup with the legal office?" He asked.

She nodded. “Yep, they want me over at the courthouse at eight AM, there is a lot of stuff that’s going to need to be filed away, because lots of people lost their homes and businesses, not to mention lives.” She sat on the bed and picked up her book as he went into the bathroom to change or at least take off some clothes.

Laurel resisted the urge to turn on the television news as she took off her pants, because he wanted to sleep and it would take her a minute to sleep, but if he could then he definitely should. And the news would only get in the way of that.

He came out and smiled at her, he was in a pair of royal purple boxer shorts and nothing else. He looked to the other side of the bed as if asking a question and she nodded.

He got in and settled the pillows around the way he liked and smiled to her. “You know, this doesn’t have to be rigid right?” He asked her.

She looked at him and sighed. “You’re right, it doesn’t have to be awkward.” She said as she scooted in closer to him and gazed into his eyes. “This is the first intimate thing I’ve done in a long time,” She told him in nothing more than a whisper.

He understood. AA wanted her to not date for a year. He’d been to a public meeting. He sat there and listened to her talk about her struggle. He didn’t think she needed that place, but her dad did and clearly it helped her. “intimate doesn’t have to be complicated,” He told her as he brought her closer and snuggled her.

He could feel her breath moving easier. She was relaxing. She laid her hands in a prayer like position and rested her head on top of them and the pillows. She was getting ready to sleep. He traced patterns on her temple and just watched her beautiful and perfect.

He fell asleep a little bit later and it was perfect. No nightmares. No guilt. Just peace for one day. One day that he had her in his arms and he felt like everything was right with the world. He got up once to go to the bathroom, but even then, it was like a brand new world he discovered sleeping beside her, soundly through the night.

Her phone went off at five in the morning and she looked at him and smiled, he was right. Slept right through the night. She watched him go to the bathroom, but other than that he was good. She took his arm off her and padded into the kitchen where she started to make coffee and got some breakfast ready.

She turned on the news in the living room quietly as she stood there and with her cup of coffee and watched to see what they were saying about how the world had almost ended. It was still current events. They were gonna milk it for all it was worth, she guessed.

She jumped when she felt him hug her from behind and give her a kiss on the shoulder. “Good morning,” He said.

"Sleep well?" She asked and took a sip of her coffee as she paid attention to the screen.

It didn’t take him long to notice the small smile on her face that wasn’t only due to the fact she already had coffee in her system. “The best,” He nodded to her.

"Good," She said.

He stood in the doorway with her, “Think we can do it again?” He asked her.

She shrugged with a sly smirk. “I think we can figure something out,” She said as she took something down from a hook a pushed it into his hand. “Just in case,” She said as she took her cup of coffee into the bedroom and shut the door. He heard the shower and chuckled.

He looked down at the object in his hand. It was her spare key.

He shook his head as he fondly glanced over to the door and then beheld what was truly a sign that she wanted him back in her life, a key to her apartment. He reminded himself, he needed to get a few changes of clothes and maybe his pillow, but this, this would do nicely.


	44. Etched on My Heart

Laurel and Oliver strode hand in hand to the tattoo parlor and smiled at the receptionist. “Welcome to the Deluxe Rockets Tattoo and Piercing Parlor, how can I help you today?” She asked with a friendly southern drawl in her voice as she wiped down the desk. The place was overwhelmingly clean which is why they were there. Laurel had done her research.

Oliver smiled to the receptionist. “We’re here to get tattoos,” He told her.

"Great," The receptionist said as she typed away on her keyboard, "Let me get some information from you guys, and we can be right with you," She told them as she pulled up the form. "Can I get your names, real quick honeybees?" She asked.

Laurel nodded. “Laurel Lance and Oliver Queen” She told the lady who typed furiously into the system.

The receptionist looked over to them as she heard their names, “Well, get out of town, it is you two. You two are constantly on the news, making our city better.” She practically hooted. Laurel looked to Oliver and chuckled quietly. “Now, do you two have any idea what you want?” The receptionist asked.

Oliver took that question, “Yeah, we wanted matching tattoos that said always and forever with a double infinity underneath it,” He told her. This would be the first tattoo he really got for himself and he was getting it with Laurel. Honestly, he was a little bit excited to have a piece of her on his body forever.

"Well, ain’t that sweet," The receptionist told him as she smacked on her gum. "Why don’t the two of you take a seat over there and Duncan will be right out for you," She said as she finished typing into the computer, printed off the invoice and went into the back, presumably to get Duncan.

Oliver looked to Laurel and smiled, “You ready for this?” He asked her.

She nodded. “I’m surprised you’re not a little more nervous. I mean this one is yours. It’s your choosing. It’s a big step for you,” She told him as she held his hand.

He shook his head. “I’m not scared, because it’s a little part of you that I get to keep on me forever. That’s the best gift I could get,” He told her.

She gave him a kiss, because that was honestly one of the cutest things that anyone had ever said to her. “You’re perfect you know that?” She asked.

He smiled and shook his head. “Not as perfect as you,”

The receptionist smiled as she came back out with Duncan, “How long you two been together?” She asked as she scrunched her nose up in delight at the adorable going on.

"You don’t need to be asking things like that, Cherry," Duncan told her as he shook his head.

"Not as long as you’d think," Laurel told her as she got up and shook Duncan’s hand.

Duncan looked the both of them up and down and nodded to them. “So who’s going first?” He asked as he looked between them.

Laurel put her hand up first, “It’s my first time, so he’s gonna hold my hand through the first one.” She told Duncan.

"A tattoo virgin? That’s what I like to see," Duncan smirked as he brought her over to the chair and looked at did a quick drawing of what they wanted.

Oliver stared at the guy with his jaw clenched as he held Laurel’s hand through the drawing process, because he did not need other men hitting on Laurel. Laurel didn’t need other men hitting on her. Especially not because she wasn’t inked up to her eyeballs. That was possibly the stupidest reason he’d heard to flirt with someone.

Duncan swung back and chuckled at Oliver. “Down boy, I realize she’s got another,” he told him and then he presented them with some beautiful script and their double infinity knot. “How’s that look for the happy couple?” He asked.

Oliver turned to Laurel who smiled and he turned back and nodded to Duncan. “That’s good. Let’s get the ball rollin,” He told Duncan. “On her left wrist, my right,” He instructed.

"Cool with that?" Duncan asked Laurel who nodded. He set to work, left hand extended, and once Duncan made first contact, Laurel about jumped out of her skin. Oliver took her right hand and kissed the fingers. "You’re doing great," He told her in a whisper.

She looked over to him. “How did you have people do this without all of this nice equipment?” She asked him, trying not to focus on the pain. He saw some little blood droplets form, but Duncan wiped them away and he relaxed. Duncan clearly knew what he was doing.

He looked to Laurel and smiled, “Because when I didn’t have a choice in this, I was unconscious or I thought of you,” He told her. He always told her that and sometimes it felt like an old excuse, but it was true. She was the only one he thought of so very constantly.

In the hour that they were there for her, they talked between themselves and as Duncan finished up the double infinity, he looked to Laurel and Oliver and asked them about where they met, “We met in High school,” Laurel said with love in her voice. “Oliver needed a tutor and I was a brainiac.” She told him.

"So you two have been together for a long time?" He asked, nodding his head impressed with them.

Oliver laughed. It wasn’t that easy, but he sort of liked it that way. “Not this time, this time we’ve only been together for about a year.” He told Duncan.

"It’s pretty early to be getting tattoos that say always and forever, huh?" Duncan asked as he licked his lips. He didn’t care that they were only together a year. If they broke up, it meant referring the two out and getting commission.

Oliver and Laurel shook their head, “Believe me if you knew us, you wouldn’t say that,” She told him. Duncan mumbled a little bit of something but went on to do more of his work, finishing up Laurel. Once she was done, Duncan let Oliver take a picture of it, after he wiped the blood away. “It’s not gonna bleed like that for long is it?” She asked.

Oliver shook his head. “Only for the next few hours,” Oliver said as he made sure to wrap her arm carefully. “Should be good by the time we get home,” He told her as he sat down in the chair.

Since Duncan had already done one of them, doing Oliver’s was much faster since he knew the design already and they were done in less than two hours. Oliver paid the guy and wrapped his own wrist up and smiled up to Laurel. “There was a lot less blood than I expected,” She told him.

He nodded. “It happens like that.” He shrugged. “So how do you feel now that we have a part of each other on us forever?” He asked as he took her hand in his and they walked out.

She smiled to him. “It’s different, but not you know. It’s just another thing we have together. Like so many things,” She told him. “Food?” She asked him.

He nodded. “I’m starving.”


	45. The Stripes Picnic

Laurel gathered her hair into a ponytail and tied it up with a hair band and smiled to her reflection, she looked good. She went to Olivia’s room and there was Oliver sitting on a chair watching Olivia with Tommy jr. on his leg, bouncing him as he waited for Olivia to finish packing her bag. She didn’t need everything she put in the bag. In fact, she wouldn’t need most of it, but Olivia was very independent and she saw mommy had a bag, so she needed a bag. “You guys almost ready?” She asked the lot.

Olivia looked in her mom’s direction and vigorously nodded. Oliver smiled over to her as he rested his chin on his fist.

The doorbell rang and he nodded. “You should go get that. It’s probably Tommy,” He told her. He readjusted Tommy jr. on his lap and watched her leave the room.

Laurel went and opened the door and beamed. It was indeed Tommy sr. “Hey, baby, how are you?” He asked as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and he grinned more. “So where’s the King and the little prince and princess?” He asked as he put the basket of goodies on the table.

"He’s waiting for the little princess to finish getting her purse together," Laurel laughed a little. "I’m so glad you could come to Amanda’s 4th of July Stripes picnic." She told him, because honestly, this thing was a bore most of the time. All everyone wanted to talk about was their kids or work. Like they had no life outside of those things.

He shrugged. “Don’t mention, besides, I’m part of the family,” He said as he saw the kids on the top landing of the stairs and smiled to them. “Look at how big my pirates are, man, you guys are just growing up.” He told them in amazement.

Oliver handed Tommy jr. to Tommy sr. and kissed his wife’s temple. “Are we all ready?” He asked her in a whisper. She nodded to him and slid a hand around his waist as Olivia took the lead and shuffled them out of the house and into the limo which seemed abnormally extravagant for a picnic, but Oliver didn’t argue. Rich people like any chance to show off their wealth and so they did weird things and he knew it, so he just got in and sat down.

Laurel sat beside Oliver and took his right hand in her left and smiled to him as she kissed his knuckles and Olivia made a face. Tommy looked over to where Oliver and Laurel were and smiled to Olivia, “Yeah, mommy and daddy are pretty gross huh?” He asked her and she shrugged a little.

At the picnic, Tommy put the blanket down and Laurel and Olivia found two rocks to put on the ends so it wouldn’t fly away while Oliver and the Tommies played while some business guy talked Oliver and Tommy sr’s ear off. Oliver looked like he was about ready to die and Tommy junior’s wriggling was getting a little out of hand.

"Excuse me," Laurel said as Olivia sat on the blanket. "Hi, I just need to take my baby and my boys away from you for a hot minute. They are needed over by our picnic area." She told the other businessman and took Tommy out of Oliver’s arms. Tommy sr. and Oliver smiled as they went back to the striped blanket and sat down. "I thought I told you don’t talk to anyone you don’t know unless you want to talk about business," She told Oliver.

He put his hands up and laughed. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, He came up to me and he was so nice and he wanted to congratulate me on the acquisition of Davina’s Fashion line and I just forgot.” He told her.

"Are these people always this ruthless?" Tommy sr. asked Laurel with an amount of disbelief.

She nodded. “Yeah, they’re pretty much always like this. But you have to come, because if you don’t people talk and you have to answer way more questions at work the next day,” She told Tommy as she took Tommy jr. and put him on her boob to breastfeed.

"You are not terrified of anyone talking shit about you, are you?" Tommy asked as he looked around and saw some of the women give her a disapproving look.

Oliver smiled and wrapped himself around her. “She’s my pretty bird. She gives no fucks about these people.” He told Tommy as he kissed her on the cheek and she screwed up her face a little bit and she concentrated on Tommy jr’s nourishment.

Tommy shook his head. “God, you two are ridiculous. People will be asking how you do this. I’m surprised they haven’t already.” He laughed.

"Hmmm?" Laurel said as she looked over to him.

He pointed to their little family unit. “How you two manage to be practically a new couple even with two kids of your own and several years of marriage under your belt,” He told her as he shook his head.

"Well, maybe more people need to have as little time as we do to spend with each other. Maybe then they would appreciate the time they had with their spouse." She told Tommy as she kissed Oliver on the cheek.

Tommy laughed at her logic. Their love came from the fact they didn’t have time to spend with each other? Oh no. “You two have always been affectionate with each other. I don’t think it has anything to do with how much time you spend with each other,” He told her. “I think you’re making some of these society wives jealous.”

"Well, you know they should be jealous, they spend all of their time looking over the shoulder of other people and still each other’s spouses and getting high on fancy new drugs and planning parties like Amanda’s 4th of July Stripes Picnic where they can judge each other." Laurel said as she looked at Tommy Robert Queen Lance and smiled. She looked over to Oliver and kissed him and kissed Olivia. "Like they don’t get enough of that from the press."

Oliver shook his head. “We figured out that if this was going to work, we had to be each other’s best friend.” Oliver told him. “And I think we do a pretty good job of that.”


	46. At the Company Softball Game

The company softball game. The Queen Consolidated softball game. It was specifically the Queen Consolidated versus Palmer Industries charity softball game. “So who are you rooting for?” Laurel asked. “Your boss or your boyfriend?” She nudged Felicity as she looked out on the pitch and smiled to Oliver who was taking the bat.

"It’s no surprise who you’re rooting for." Felicity said as she rolled her eyes at their saccharine love for each other. "So are you thinking about taking him up on his offer for your new position with the company?" She asked as she chewed on her gum.

Laurel chuckled. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. And you’re avoiding the question, Liss.” Laurel knew it was big that Oliver had asked her to be part of the company, but she didn’t know what it would entail and moreover if she was ready to fully transition to a life where a lot of it involved being with him everyday.

"I have to go home with Ray, so I think that’s where my affection is gonna lie." She admitted. She looked to Laurel who fiddled with her fingers and put her hand on Laurel’s shoulder. "You know Oliver just wants what’s best for you."

She looked at him as he swung the bat at the ball and sighed. “Do you think it’s the best choice to work for the man you sleep with?” She asked. Because truthfully, though she had slept with powerful people before, they had always had a position of power elsewhere.

"You think you guys are gonna have problems in the boardroom because of your bedroom activities?" Felicity asked, a little shocked. She cheered for Ray as his pitch went past Ollie’s bat and Oliver looked back to her and glared for a quick minute. She blushed. And he glanced over to Laurel, who he beamed at. "Look, that man loves you. He wants you set up for life."

Laurel sighed. “I just don’t know if I’m ready to give up my job. If I’m ready to be Mrs. Laurel Queen. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Oliver all the way down to my bones, but I love being a lawyer too. I don’t know if I’m ready.” She told Felicity.

Felicity shook her head. “Don’t you realize that he’s not actually asking you to do that? He’s just asking for you to take 26 percent of the shares. He wants you two to have final say. More specifically you to have final say.” She told Laurel. As the game went on, there was lots of cheering on both sides and Laurel looked at Oliver, now on the pitch and saw him trying to make this team great for the company, because he believed in it.

Felicity said that Oliver wanted her to have final say in the decisions and she trusted that. Oliver believed in her the way he believed in this team. He wouldn’t have given so much of his effort to either of them if he didn’t. And at the halfway point, she went up to the fence as Oliver took a drink of water and smiled to him. “I’m gonna take you up on that offer. But I’m keeping my job too,” She told him.

He put a hand on her cheek and kissed her. “I wouldn’t have expected anything else,” He told her. “After the game, I have a few people I’m gonna have to introduce you too.”

"You’re a little sneak," She said, with a big stupid grin on her face as she shook her head. "You organized this whole charade."

He crinkled his nose and gave her another quick kiss before he gulped down another swig of water. “And you love me anyway,” He singsonged as he ran backwards in a fairly ridiculous fashion.

"I think this sport sucks," She yelled at him, but there was no malice in her voice, all love. She shook her head and went back up to her seat and smiled at Felicity who was giggling. "What’s so funny?" Laurel asked as she took the lid off her soda and poured some down her throat.

Felicity shook her head and tried to manage a straight face. “He always wonders why all of his business contacts ask about you. I can’t believe Oliver can be that oblivious to why.” She told Laurel as she took a drink as well.

Laurel turned her head to look more directly at Felicity, “The business people ask about me?” She asked, a little stunned at the thought.

Felicity nodded. “Oh, yeah. All the time. Doesn’t help that he has three pictures of you on his desk and you guys are constantly photographed kissing or sitting cozy or nonsense like that. People love you guys like you wouldn’t believe. Believe it or not, most of those business men have a whimsical side. He just shares his with you,” Felicity shrugged as she watched more of the game, cheering for good plays all around.

Laurel didn’t really understand softball as well as she probably should for this game, it was one of the few sports she wasn’t equally an expert to Oliver about. But she cheered when some of the coworkers she knew were definitely on her side cheered. She looked to Felicity and smiled. “You know, this, it’s a pretty good life,” She whispered as if it was some big secret she was keeping.

"Coming around to the idea of being Mrs. Laurel Queen?" Felicity asked with a smiled.

Laurel nodded. “Yeah, I mean, it’s weird, but I kind of like it.” She told Felicity.

"You wanna know a secret?" Felicity asked. Laurel nodded. "He always considered you the next Mrs. Queen. Even when he said you ‘weren’t dating’ each other."

Laurel shrugged. “We’re all each other has of our past. That and Bear. It’s the three of us trying to figure out the world together,” Laurel said and as the game came to a close with a tie, Laurel ran down the bleachers and practically jumped into Oliver’s arms.

Felicity shook her head. “In love idiots.”


	47. Anniversary Dinner

Oliver kissed Laurel on the cheek and sighed, “I promise, I’ll be back home, we’ll do something nice for dinner, and we’ll have a good anniversary, go out and shop the town red with Bear or whatever. And I promise, I’m gonna have a talk with Felicity about holidays to definitely not call me into the office, okay?” He asked her as he looked down on her.

She looked sad, and the smile acknowledged that. She sighed at him. “Don’t be too hard on Felicity, but don’t be late for dinner okay?” She asked him, quirking her eyebrow up at him.

He nodded. “I think I can do that,” He promised as he left her in the living room. As the door shut she quickly opened her computer, all the way, it had almost given everything away and she saw Thea and Felicity on Skype. “Felicity keep him at the office until dinner time. This is supposed to be a total surprise.” She told Felicity.

"I can’t believe he went for that," She snickered. Oliver was usually pretty keen on sniffing out when there was some sort of ruse going on, but apparently not today.

Laurel shrugged. “Better for me that he didn’t.” She told her. She looked at Thea and smiled. “So we actually do have some shopping to do. I have the duck to get. But I also need your advice,” She told Thea and grinned. Thea didn’t like the cut of that grin.

"You know, I’m not buying my brother a sex toy with you. There’s a lot I’ll do, but that’s where I draw the line," She told Laurel and Laurel laughed.

Laurel shook her head. “Nothing like that, I promise. I need an outfit for when Oliver arrives home tonight. And I need you to help me pick it out,” She told Thea as she looked at the clock. “Okay, if we leave now, we can head up to Trina’s and stop by where I ordered my duck legs for today before I have to get back here and start cooking,” She told them and smiled.

"Ollie’s not gonna know what hit him," Thea grinned. It was no secret that Thea loved Laurel and Oliver together and she loved any scheme that made them fall more in love with each other. Oliver had always teased her about her cooking and her lack of skills, but now, she’d have something to show him she could do. Something that was supposedly supposed to be difficult.

At Trina’s after about an hour of looking, they found the perfect, cherry red a line fifties dress with black trimming with some black, nude, and red slingback pumps which also had a fold of cherry patterned fabric on the. “He’s not gonna know what to do with you in this get up,” Thea and Trina both practically watered at the mouth.

"We’ll take it," She told Trina who run her up. After finishing up at Trina’s she got the fresh pairs and the duck legs she ordered and smiled as she came home and saw Francine pull in.

Francine was surprised. “You have fresh groceries?” Laurel nodded and unlocked the door and brought Francine into the kitchen. “So what do you need me to do,” Francine asked as she took the duck legs and the pears out of the paper bag.

"I just need you to stay with me for the preparation to make sure I’m doing it right," Laurel said as she showed her the recipe for the Duck Confit. "I really want to impress my husband, because I don’t cook at all. And this is our anniversary."

Francine was moved by the story and they did exactly as the directions stated, with Francine gently guiding her in the way to do it the right way. “You chose very deceiving recipe, but a good one,” Francine smiled as they waited the twenty minutes for the initial prep.

Laurel smiled. “It’s our anniversary, it’s supposed to be special.” She told Francine.

Francine nodded and looked at the time. “Time to put this sucker in,” She said and she let Laurel take the casserole dish and put in the oven. She instructed her on the heat and looked at Laurel. “In two hours, look at them, and and then turn up the heat to 375 for 15 minutes. Take them out and you have duck m’dear.” She told Laurel.

As Laurel looked at the time, she thanked Francine as she ushered her out the door and made sure to set the rest of the stuff up to wow Oliver. She dressed the table, lit the candles, put the plates out and turned on a little music.

She made her Marsala Pears and made the sorbet and looked at the time, almost time for Oliver to get home. She went into the bedroom, put on the new dress and heels, did her makeup and hair and blew a kiss to the mirror as she left and went to look at the kitchen, perfection. The timer went off and she turned the oven up and turned it on for another fifteen minutes and did some basic work from her phone in the kitchen.

Oliver came in the door twenty minutes later as she was taking the duck out of the oven, and sniffed in big, “What’d you pick up babe? I thought we were going out to eat tonight,” He said as he put his coat in the closet and came in and saw her put the sorbet in the freezer. “What’s going on here?” He asked. “God, you look so hot,” He said as he dipped her down and gave her a big kiss.

"I thought for our anniversary, I would try something, go over into the dining room," She said as she smiled wide at him. He quirked his eyebrow and she waved him out of the kitchen. He chuckled and looked over into the dining room.

He looked over to her, “What is this?” He asked as he gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

"Happy anniversary, babe," She said as she took the lid off the casserole dish and showed him her duck confit.

His eyes bugged out, that duck confit actually looked pretty delicious. “You cooked for me?” He asked as he put his arm around her waist.

She nodded. “It’s something I never do and I know you like a good home cooked meal once and awhile, so here it is. Duck Confit. I also made marsala poached pears and champagne sorbet.”

"I also have a surprise for you," He said as he looked at the food. He couldn’t wait to settle in and he hoped for his dear life that it tasted good, but even if it didn’t, she’d spent so much time on this, it meant a lot to him. He got up from his chair and went out into his office and got the present from his office and returned to the dining room. "Happy anniversary couer," He told her with a smile.

She took the package from him and sat down and undid the ribbon. She took the paper off and saw a first edition prisoner of azkaban, “Ollie,” She said, stunned. This was delightfully thoughtful.

"Look inside, page four," He told her as he took some of the duck confit and put it in his mouth, "And oh my god, this duck, some of the best duck I’ve had in awhile." He told her.

She smiled widely at him again and turned to page four and there it was. Her signature. JK Rowling signed this book. “How much did this cost you?” She asked him as she stroked the book.

He shook his head. “For that smile, I’d give my entire fortune,” He told her.


	48. Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

As the fire warmed up the Queen Mansion, Olivia and Tommy jr. danced around the living room as Laurel and Oliver greeted their guests to bring them into the ballroom. Laurel picked Tommy jr. up, “I can’t believe he got so big,” Felicity cooed as she grabbed him.

Oliver kissed Laurel’s hair and poured some egg nog. This definitely wasn’t the big Queen Christmas party, the place wasn’t festooned in bows and christmas trees, but it was perfect, because it was just the people who matter. Laurel, his kids, and his closest friends. He handed Laurel a cup and smiled to her. “You know, I like this tradition,” He told her.

"I’m surprised, Queens usually like going all out on holidays," She teased him as she kissed his nose. He took her by the hand and twirled her around and she threw her head back as she laughed, jovial, but careful not to pour eggnog on her dress.

Tommy sr. looked at Diggle, Felicity and Ray and had a shit eating grin. “You guys owe me a hundred,” He told them.

Oliver looked over to his friends. “You guys were betting on us?” He asked with a look of ridiculousness on his face and Tommy absolutely shook his head. He was not ashamed of his friends, but he also knew that they were totally in love and they didn’t even notice how in love.

"Dude," Tommy said as he slapped oliver on the shoulder, "We’re not sure how you guys don’t have more than two kids considering that you guys can never keep your hands off each other." Laurel gave Tommy a look and he knew it was time to stop. Laurel was the only person who go that respect.

Laurel then smiled at him and the rest of the group. “Well, as you guys know, I want to start a new tradition, and I asked you guys to bring an extra pair of clothes that you could run around in. If you guys could get into those, I’ll tell you what I want to do when we get back,” She told them as she went into her bedroom and quickly changed.

"So are you giving me any hints?" Oliver asked as he got into her space with no shirt on.

She looked him up and down with a hungry look, but ultimately shook her head. “Nope, you’re gonna have to wait the five minutes like the others,” She told him as she dropped her dress and got into some heavy pants and a henley over a thick sweater. Every gathered back in the ballroom, even Olivia and Tommy jr. and Laurel smiled to them. “Our lives are so photographed, and here on the grounds, we have some privacy of our own, so I wanted to do a snowball fight. No having to worry about how anyone looks like, just us,”

Felicity squeaked, “Laurel, you’re a genius.” She said as she kissed both of Laurel’s cheeks. “Come on, let’s go.” She beamed as she drug Laurel by the head and Oliver shook his head, amused.

As they got out in the back with all the fresh snow that was perfect for snowballs, everyone spread out and scooped up the first snow to make their finest snowballs and they were off to the races.

And it seemed like such a picturesque scene as snowballs flew in all directions as everyone grinned and ran away from the oncoming attack and it was all quite beautiful.

Laurel took one of hers and hit Oliver in the face and she covered her mouth from the shock of it. She didn’t think it would actually hit him, but it did and it was actually kind of a beautiful moment. “You’re so gonna get it,” Oliver said with a searing grin on his face.

"Come at me, Queen. Your aim is shit with anything but arrows," Laurel trash talked and everyone who had run themselves out of breath shook their head at the couple who was oblivious to everything but the two of them.

Felicity came between the two of them, “As much as this would be hilarious to see who came out on top, how about we make a snowman?” She asked as she looked between the two competitors. “I mean you two have more energy than the kids, which is saying something,” She told them.

Oliver shrugged. “Whatever,” He said as threw his snowball curved out and managed to land it right on the top of Laurel’s head. “Oh, god, Laur, I didn’t mean to,” He said as he came over and rushed to her and got the snow out of her hair.

Laurel shook her head and hugged him, “I guess I can deal with it,” She said as she crushed one right onto his head.

"I deserved that one," He said as he laughed.

Felicity looked over to the group. “You guys totally owe me the hundred,” She told them with a grin.

"You guys bet on us again?" Laurel asked.

Felicity shrugged. “You guys shouldn’t make it so easy to predict what you’re gonna do.” She said as she took some of the snow and started packing it into the base of the snowman and Oliver and Laurel shook their heads and took each other hands and went over to the group.

They started getting the middle section started and Tommy jr. and Oliva got started on the head and Tommy sr. took Felicity in and let Ray and Diggle finish getting the big base portion done as they went to look for things they could put on the snowman. “Bet you fifty we could lock them out there while they were playing like that it would take them at least half an hour before they realized the door was locked.”

"Tommy, I don’t take sucker bets. I only make them with rich men with too much to spare," She said as she grinned to him.

Tommy grinned back, “God you are sexy,”

"I bet you say that to all the girls,"

He shrugged, “You’d lose,” He told her as he looked out at the scene in the courtyard. “God, they are stupidly in love. They look at each other like no one else is watching”

"Play your cards right and that could be you," She told him as she held out a carrot with a stupid smile. He held out a ratty scarf and a top hat.

She got two buttons and he shook his head and just picked up the big box of buttons, “You know, I think I might already have something like that,” He said as he looked up, “Mistletoe.”

"Ollie put it there so he could kiss Laurel," She told him with a nervous smile.

Tommy shrugged. “What do we have to lose?” He asked.

Laurel and Oliver’s voices rang out, “Come on, guys,” They said with a laugh. “We want to finish the snowman,” Laurel said and they heard some kissing noises. “Ollie, stop that,” She said as she swatted him away. “Seriously, if you guys don’t come out in just a couple of seconds we’re gonna come find you. And you better not be naked.” Felicity gave him a quick peck that turned into something much longer than a peck. “You owe me a hundred Ollie,” Laurel said with a satisfied grin.

"You bet on us?" Felicity asked after a moment of shock wore off after she practically jumped out of her skin to get away from Tommy. To his credit, he laughed it off.

Laurel nodded. “Next time, don’t make it so easy,” She said with a laugh, “Come on, we need to finish the snowman.”


	49. Cards of Engagement

He clutched the box in his pocket. It had been their for two weeks. He wasn’t sure why he was so worried, because the ring in the box was just a placeholder. They were gonna get her own. “Why are you so twitchy?” She asked him with this bright smile that made him weak at the knees.

He shook his head as if to tell her he wasn’t twitching. “Just thinking about things,” He said as he fingered the box once again. Tonight was the big night and she could absolutely not know what was going to happen. He wanted this to be a surprise. They started talking about and he knew it was something she wanted, but he also wanted to make it a bit of a surprise.

She laughed a little and shook her head. “Well, don’t do that,” She said as she took his head in her hands and kissed him on the forehead. “So the gang is gonna come over?” She asked him.

He nodded. “Yep, we’re supposed to be having game night tonight.” He told her. She looked over to him and sighed. He knew what she was thinking because they had talked about that too. “I miss ‘em too.” He told her as he took her into a hug. They lost so much, but that was why tonight was so special, why he needed to make tonight special. Because she deserved the fairy tale.

She sniffed and looked up to him with that gorgeous smile again. “It’s gonna be okay,” She said as she did what she always did and stiff upper lipped it.

He took her chin in his hand. “At least we have each other,” He whispered to her and she nodded.

The doorbell rang and she scurried to get it because nothing in her wanted to be a bad host. Oliver smiled at her backside as she let all of their friends in. “So what are we playing tonight, lovebirds?” Diggle asked as he came in and hugged Laurel.

"I made a custom set of Cards Against Humanity for us, I thought we would play that?" Oliver asked.

Felicity smacked her gum in delight, “Sounds great! Totally gonna kick everyone’s ass at this game.” She said through her teeth, excited about it.

Laurel rolled her eyes. “You’re gonna have to go through me,” She said as she nudged Felicity.

John and Oliver looked at the girls walk into the game room. “She has no idea, what’s going to happen.” Diggle said as he shook his head.

"Nope, And it’s gonna be great," Oliver said as he grinned as she got there.

They probably played for two hours and Felicity took a miraculous number of photos of the game and not just of Laurel so she would be suspicious. She took some video of all the antics too.

It was Laurel’s turn to pick a black card which they all had to choose from. “For my black card,” She said as she looked at all of the other players, “Is ‘What Does Oliver Queen Want to Ask’ and there better be some good answers in here, people,” She told them.

Diggle and Felicity smiled as they put in their card and Oliver played around before Diggle sighed, “Just play a card man,” He said, trying not to break character. Oliver pushed the white card over to her. He put his hand in his pocket and got the ringbox and waited until she shuffled.

"Okay so for my black card ‘What Does Oliver Queen Want to Ask’, I have three answers and," She turned them all up and looked through them and again and once more.

Felicity smiled, “What do the cards say?” She asked.

"Laurel, Will you Marry Me?" She said as she looked over to Oliver.

Oliver, who got down on one knee and presented her with the tiffany box that held his mother’s ring. “Laurel, you are all that I have of my past. And god, if I can only have one nice thing in the future, all I want is you.

"You’ve seen me at my best and my worst. You’ve seen me broken and whole and you have never shied away from me. Not for one minute. You call me on my crap. You love me even when I don’t deserve it. You are my rock, my stability, my other half. You’re my best friend and god you’ve been that way since I can remember. It would be a privilege to be your husband, will you give me one great honor and be my wife.

Dinah Laurel Lance, I ask once more on behalf of the cards and myself, will you marry me?”

She nodded through the tears and she made him stand up as she hugged him. “God, yes. All we need, all we’ve ever needed is each other to take on the world.” She said as she kissed his cheek.

He leaned away and took her hand in his and smiled. “This is not your only ring. But this was my mother’s ring. Passed down for five generations. And the only thing with this ring is that we may give it to Thea if she ever comes back to us and gets married. But you and I, we are going to go ring shopping for you, so that you have the exact ring you want. No expense spared, okay? Anything you want.” He told her as he kissed her multiple times on the forehead.

"You guys planned this whole thing around this didn’t you?" She asked. Felicity and Diggle nodded and pointed to Oliver. She hugged them both. "I’m glad you guys were here to see that," Laurel told them. Laurel wasn’t super showy about their private lives, but she liked people around to celebrate their big moments like birthdays and holidays and now engagements.

Diggle shrugged. “It was all that guy. And we figured that our Canary, she deserved something special,” He told her as he clasped his hand on her shoulder.

"I can’t wait to start wedding planning," Felicity said with glee.

"Oh my god, wedding planning," Laurel shrieked a little as she practically burst into dance with Felicity. Laurel looked over to Oliver as she hung her arms around his neck again and shook her head. "I can’t believe we’re engaged," She told him in a whisper.

"You can’t believe it? I can’t believe you said yes to a wretch like me," He told her with a great big smile.

Diggle tapped their shoulder and smiled. “I’m gonna take Felicity home. You guys should enjoy your first night engaged together.” He told them.

Oliver almost let it happen before he shook his head. “Not before one toast,” He told him.

"One toast," Diggle said with finality.

Laurel took Oliver’s hand and grinned at what her ringed hand look like in his, “Totally gonna be married.”

"Always and forever," He said as he nodded his head.

She nodded right with him. “Always and forever,” 


	50. Breakfast at Tiffany's

"Today’s the big day, excited?" He asked as he fixed his tie in the mirror.

She looked at his reflection and smiled. “I can’t believe you’re taking me to Tiffany ring shopping. I just, god, this was the dream. I had it when I was a little girl, but I never thought it would come true,” She said as she looked down at her hand at Moira’s ring. It was beautiful. What they picked out today would be hers to pass down, but this, it was a part of his family and a way of truly affirming her place.

Moira had been keen to put her ring on Laurel’s finger since the get go. Laurel was the best of the best and Moira certainly encouraged his relationship with her. Even though, he always thought good things about her now, that was a little intimidating back when all he wanted to be was a free bird playboy billionaire who didn’t give a damn. “Well, believe it. Our appointment is in an hour, so we should probably get in the car now.” He told her.

She took his hand and picked up her purse and they headed out the door. And as he expected, there were tons of photographers there to swarm their apartment building door. “There has to be an easier way to get out of here,” Laurel told him as she looked at the crowd amassed outside.

"There is," He said as they walked back into the elevator and he got on the phone. "Can you bring the car around to the garage?" He asked the person on the other side, then he hung up. "We should be good now," He told her as he rubbed her shoulders which had gotten goosebumps.

When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, they saw the car sitting there in the middle of their empty garage as the driver smile a shit eating grin at them. “Ma’am, sir,” He said as he opened the door and Laurel slid in and he slid in beside her. “Congratulations on the engagement by the way,” The driver said as he shut the door.

"It’s so weird that everyone knows," Laurel laughed, a little nervously.

Oliver put his hand on her knee and squeezed. “We’re gonna be fine. There is of course going to be some backlash and people coming out of the word work to try to come between us, but we can do this.” He told her with a smile as he stopped squeezing her knee and instead gave it a gentle pat.

"We just have to stand by each other," She told him as she took a deep breath.

He shook his head. “All you need to worry about today is your ring. Nothing else.” He told her. “It shoudl be exactly what you want. No expense spared.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about this, it definitely felt like something the world would go gaga over, but she was going to have this forever. It was going to be an investment in their future life together.

As they arrived at Tiffanys, people were pushed out of the way so they could make their way into the store, where an associate, Lisbette greeted them. “Mr. Queen and Ms. Lance, we’ve been waiting for you. So what are we looking for today?”

"We are looking for an engagement ring," Laurel said as she stared down at some of the selection.

Lisbette nodded once and then opened up the glass case and held out the rings. “So is there a metal you prefer?” She asked Laurel, trying to eliminate a few choices.

"Definitely platinum," She told Lisbette and Lisbette put a tray of the gold ones back away. She went back into the back and picked out a tray while Laurel looked at the ones in the display and Laurel’s face lit up when she saw the cut. "I think that’s gonna be the one," She told Oliver.

He came back to reality, “Hmm?” He asked. Laurel pointed to the heart shaped practically star sparkly diamond and he smiled. “That would like great on your hand.”

She chuckled, “You’re just saying that because you want to spoil me,” She told him as she nuzzled his nose a little.

"So did you pick one?" Lisbette asked and Laurel pointed to the heart one with a grin as wide as her face. "That one is a little retro, but I think once you wear it Miss Lance," She said as she grabbed a ring and estimated Laurel’s size as she handed it over the counter. "People are gonna be rushing to get this exact one," She told them.

Laurel looked at it on her hand and while it was no heirloom ring with a lot of value to the family, there was a sophisticated, but also I’m so much richer than you feel to it. “What size is this one?” Laurel asked.

"Two and a half Karats. At Mr. Queen’s request, we’re only showing you the biggest and best ones, unless you specifically want another," She said with a smile.

Laurel put her hand out and studied it with the ring on her finger. It was huge and it was perfect and she loved its simple design and easy aesthetic. “I’m sort of in love with this one,” She told him as she picked at her lip.

"Is there one that you would want more?" Laurel looked over the other ones and looked back to him and shook her head with childlike ferocity, "Then we’re getting that one." He told her.

Laurel jumped into his arms and smiled. Oliver gave the associate his Black Amex and she just slid it through the machine and then she realized that the diamond was going to be expensive. “How much did this cost?” She said as she tried to get a peek at the receipt.

He shove it in his pocket. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re my wife to be and I need to pamper you. Besides, it’s the first thing people are gonna see of us, because Pete can only wrangle through so many of those guys at a time.” He said as he pointed over the reporters.

"One thing before miss Laurel leaves though," She told the as she went in the back and got a necklace. Lisbette brought out another bag and gave it to Laurel.

"What’s this?" She asked about the mysterious bag she’d just been given.

He nudged her, “Just open it,”

And in it, she saw the vintage star necklace tiffany pendant that had been lost in her gym locker in high school. “Happy Engagement?” He asked.

She nodded and kissed him quietly as the bulbs went flashing off. “Well, where to next? Back to the loveden?” She asked him.

He thought about it. “We do have time before my next meeting.” He told her.

"No, none of that," She told him as she slapped him with a limp backhand. "But we could get food."

He grinned. “Food sounds delicious. I love you. You’ve got all the best ideas?” He asked her.

"Always and forever?" She asked him.

He nodded and took her underneath his coat and cleared out the way so they could walk. As soon as they got into the limo, he smiled to her and combed some her hair back. “Always and forever,”


	51. Our Terms

Oliver went to grab something from the top the bookshelf and he while he grabbed the object of his affection, a box of pictures fell down. He went to pick it up and he saw a picture he hadn’t seen in ages. It was before the island. It was just him and Laurel and they were whispering at each other.

He remembered what was happening. They were thinking about leaving Starling, to see the world. They wanted to break away from all the expectations of their very confined world and see the world together. It was a beautiful thought, if only a little bit naive.

"We could do it, right? Just you and me? No one else. We could be us on our times, that would be great. We could go to New York. We could be free." Past Laurel said with a hopeful smile on her face. And Past Oliver nodded.

He never thought he would leave her alone like he did. He thought they were going to New York. At least for a little while to just be themselves. “If you want to go, I think after my boat trip, we’ll do it, okay?” He asked as he kissed her.

She gave him this happy smile and he knew that he made the right decision even if it unsettle him. Laurel was the right girl. Laurel was the girl he should marry. She was beautiful and smart and sexy and getting out of his own head for a few weeks would be the best for both of them. And then they could be the two of them.

Tommy snapped the picture of them and present Oliver shook his head. Those had been simpler times to all of them. Laurel came in the room and looked at him. “What’s going on here?” She asked him as she pointed to the toppled box and looked at the picture in his hand.

He patted the ground beside him and smiled at her. “Remember this?” He asked her as he gave her the picture for a closer look. It’d been awhile since either of them had seen it he thought.

"We were so young and full of ideas," She chuckled as she looked at it and gave it back to him. "We should really scan these guys into the computer." She told him as she looked through the box. It was all old pre island pictures.

He nodded. “We were positively in love back then, I mean look at me, I’m practically gaga for you,” He smiled at the picture. He didn’t think it was bad to be gaga over Laurel, but he really back then that he didn’t feel at all. Looking at that picture, it was painfully obvious, that he did he just didn’t know how to feel them the right way.

She pushed his shoulder with hers and grinned at him. “We’re pretty in love right now too.” She told him as she crawled into his lap and put her arms around his neck.

He shook his head. “This is something we did a lot back then too.” He laughed a little.

She shrugged. “So we did,” She said with a devious smile as she kissed him. “We did a lot right back then,” She whispered to him. He nodded. He pushed his arms behind the crook of her knees and picked her up. “What about the mess?” She asked him as she held on a little tighter and giggled.

"Doesn’t matter," He told her as he took her to their bedroom and put her on the bed. "Do you ever regret that we didn’t get to break away from people and play our relationship on our terms back then?" He asked.

She shook her head and he quirked an eyebrow up confused. “Ollie, as much as we were in love back then, it never would have worked. We both needed things that we didn’t have back then. You needed to mature a little. And I needed to have my own accomplishments, apart from you. Breaking away from Starling, it wouldn’t have helped.” She told him as she massaged the bridge of his nose with her nail.

"We were so sure of it though," He told her. "And it may not have been all the way successful, but I think getting out of her would have helped us."

She nodded. “You’re right. It would have helped. But it doesn’t matter, though,” She said as she shook her head. “Because we got together in the end. That was what I wanted from breaking free, breaking away. I wanted to be together on our terms. And we got that.” She told him as she leaned her forehead on his. She just wanted them to be in a good place. And she was happy that dream came true.

He nodded. He’d give her anything. “We should probably go to New York though. Just for our younger selves. They deserve it,” He told her with a grin. She shook her head and smiled at him. “Is that a yes?” He asked, excited.

She took his hands in hers and kissed them. “You’re younger self was kind of a little shit, but he grew into an awesome man.” She told him with a smile. “And yeah, if you still want to go to new york, I would love to go with you. For a vacation. We can’t live their this time.” She told him.

"Pinky swear?" He asked as he held his pinky up for her to take.

She chuckled and wrapped her pinky around his, “pinky swear.”

"I love you," He told her.

She scrunched up her nose and smiled, “I know.”

"Your past self grew up into kind of a little shit," He teased.

She kissed him. “I love you too.”

"Always and forever?" He asked.

She nodded. “Always and forever,” She told him.She dug into her nightstand and nudged him. “You want to see something?”

He nodded as she put the tickets in his hands. “They were the tickets from five years ago.”

"You kept them?" He asked as he looked at the date on them. They were the original tickets that he had an attendant over head over heels in love with their story with.

She nodded. “They reminded me of you,” She told him.

"Sentimental sap," He teased again.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Jerk,” She said. “Now, go buy us tickets to New York, so we can see what our past selves wanted to break away to.”

"Yes, ma’am." He said as he took his laptop out from under the bed and bought them tickets to New York City.


	52. Planetarium Paramour

Oliver took her by the hand and brought her by the hand up the road of Central park. “Where are we going?” She asked as beautiful pink dress swished around her knees and he tugged her further along.

He shook his head and put his finger to his lips. “You’ll see,” He said as he took them up Central Park West away from their room at Trump International which overlooked Central Park and into the American Museum of Natural History. “This is where we’re going,” He told her. She raised an eyebrow at him and looked at her watch.

"It’s eight thirty, Ollie. They’re closed." She said looking into his face. He wanted to see the museum. They would have to see it tomorrow or the next day and she started tugging to go see if they could make a show. Maybe Rock of Ages. It was the type of musical that dudes wouldn’t be scared to see.

Oliver unlocked the door and smiled to her. “Not if you have friends.” He told her with the widest grin she thought she’d ever seen on him. He took her hand once again and led her inside.

"Are you sure it’s okay for us to be here?" She asked him as she looked around at they walked through the hall of small mammals into the north american mammals and down to the right.

He nodded to her and took her past memorial hall up to the Heilbrunn Cosmic walkway. She wasn’t sure what they were doing here, but she knew that it was going to be something spectacular. Just seeing all of the lights in the place was amazing. She would have been content with just that. But there was something special to all of this. They walked up the third floor where the planetarium was and she was awed by it.

It wasn’t like they didn’t have stars in Starling. “So you brought me to a planetarium?” She asked him with a grin. As she looked up at all of the constellations. There was so much to look at. So much she didn’t get to appreciate on a regular basis.

He took her by the waist and the atmosphere changed. There was romantic music and the ambient noise went down. “I wanted to dance underneath the stars with you. And here, no one will interrupt us.” He told her as he put his forehead on hers.

"That’s actually pretty romantic," She told him as she blushed. They swayed to the rhythm of the beat and got lost in it as they craned their neck to look at the star show. A shooting star went across their heads and she smiled to him. "Make a wish," She told him.

He shook his head. “I don’t have to. My biggest wish already came true.” He told her as he kissed her fingers.

"Oh yeah?" She asked him. "What was that?"

He looked her straight in the eye and never wavered from this full eye contact, “To come back to you.” He told her in all seriousness.

"Well, I still have to wish," She told him and she closed her eyes and thought real hard about the wish she wanted to make and then she opened her eyes and looked down at their clasped hands and smiled.

His eyes made a jumpy sort of moment, “So what did you wish for?” He asked her.

She shook her head. “I can’t tell you or else it won’t come true,” She told him. “And I have a feeling this one is going to,” She told him with a smirk.

He laughed a little. It was a silly tradition which he had played into way too much on the island. “You know, I can give you the world, all you have to do is ask,” He told her as they danced a little more underneath the stars that twinkled for them.

She shook her head. “That’s not what I want, Ollie. We’re together, but I’m still my own person,” She said as she bonked her head on his. She lifted her head to rub where she bumped and gave him a chagrined smile. “I just want us to be happy. And besides what I was asking for doesn’t have to cost very much money.”

He danced her till the song was up and stopped. He looked at her and smiled, “More dancing or do you wanna do something else?” He asked.

She took him the hand and ran down the cosmic walkway down to the first floor where they went out and she pointed at the park. “Do you remember watching Manhattan? When we fifteen with that English teacher who just needed to feel elitist?” She asked him as she thought about the whole thing.

He remembered that teacher. He hated Oliver because he thought he was lazy. And he thought Laurel was too overeager for a girl. “Yeah, I remember.” He told her as he laughed out a smile.

"I want to go over the bridge. Bow Bridge." She told him as she skipped along inside. He walked along side her with his hands in his pockets and thought about how different this girl was from the one he left all those years ago. Even two years ago. How serious she was about everything.

But this girl in the here and now, she was different. She was spritely almost. As they encountered the bow bridge she took his hand in hers and they meandered across hand in hand. He stopped in the middle and looked up. “Even better than the planetarium,” He told her as he looked down and gave her a toothy smile.

She nodded happily, “Yeah, it is,” She sighed in a dreamy voice.

Just as they were about to walk away he saw another shooting star, “Make a wish,” He whispered. He watched her clasp her hands and eyes tight as she thought of her wish. And then she opened her eyes and took his hand. “You want to tell me what you wished for?”

"Nope," She shook her head and laughed. "That one’s special. But I’ll tell you about the one at the planetarium, yeah?" She asked. He nodded, anxious to hear what she had to say. "I wished that we could go have Breakfast at Tiffany’s tomorrow."

He grinned, ever the romantic that one. “Next you’re gonna tell me that if we go to Rome, you want to have gelato on the steps and ride a vespa,” He told her with a wink.

"I think you can handle gelato and a vespa," She told him with a smirk.


	53. Picture of Consent

When Felicity called him at home, he looked at the phone with a little bit of curiosity. She didn’t normally call him when he was off unless it was absolutely important, “Hello Felicity?” He asked as he picked up the phone.

"Hey, is Laurel there with you?" She asked him as he heard manic clicking in the background.

He went and found Laurel who scrunched her eyebrows together. He shrugged his shoulders and tossed his hands up in the air. He put the phone on speaker before he spoke. “Okay, now I’ve got her, what do you need?” He asked.

"You know that event last week that you guys were at?" Felicity asked him absentmindedly as she clicked.

Laurel nodded to him. “Yeah, that was a great event, a little boring, but why are you calling about it? That’s practically old news by now right?” She asked into the phone.

Felicity laughed nervously into the speaker. “Yeah, well it would be if someone hadn’t just thrown you both into the fire,” She told them. “You guys were caught in a bedroom apparently and it sort of looks like Laurel, well, it looks like she’s having the time of her life,” Felicity said diplomatically. “I just thought you should know,” She told them, “But I have to get back to work.” She said as she hung up o them.

Laurel fell back into the chair and look out into space, “This is the worst day of my life,” She told him as the blood rushed out of her face.

Oliver laughed a little, “Come on, it’s a little funny.”

"Look, Oliver, I know you can be mr. Fun, but I have a job that depends on my propriety." She told him. "And this is gonna be in the papers for weeks," She told him as she realized that she was now the tramp on the tabloid covers.

Oliver took her hands in his and crouched in front of the chair. “Look, first of all, if I’m mr. fun, you’re mrs. fun, right there with me. And we have two options, we can use it. or we can let it pass with no comment.” He told her as he nodded.

"Can’t we just get this taken down? I mean that was a clear violation of privacy." She said as she fumed. She couldn’t believe someone had photographed them like that. So what, they had a moment of passion? They were a couple.

Oliver shook his head and chuckled. “If we go after it, that’s just pouring gasoline on the fire, more people will want to see it. And as much as it sucks that it’s out there, at least it doesn’t have a big audience yet.” He told her.

"So that picture is going to exist forever in the world and there’s nothing I can do about it?" She asked him as she smiled a little bit sadly. She didn’t want that to be the thing that happened.

He shook his head. “Is there something you’re working on right now?” He asked.

"Well, I’m probably gonna get fired because of this. I mean it’s not like I can defend myself," She said as she looked at the pictures on his cell phone. "Those are definitely me." She told him.

He looked at the pictures a little more carefully. “Wait,” he told her and grinned. “Oh boy, you know, we might be in the fire but I think we can get through it.” He told her as his smile got wider.

She looked at the pictures and scrunched her eyebrows once again. “I don’t get it,” She told him.

"That’s in our private room." He told her. "The one that we kept locked when we weren’t directly going through the door." He told her.

She looked at the pictures. “You mean…?” She asked.

"Someone totally bugged our room for these. And they released them without our consent." He told her as he went and got her cell phone. "You should find out if this guy has a name or we can just sue the tabloid and they’ll take ‘em down."

Laurel kissed his cheek. “You know I think you’re even more experienced in this part of the law then I am,” She told him as she chuckled. Pre island Oliver had given them a lot of grief, but in this specific instance, she was so glad that was a part of Oliver that he had. They needed it.

He shook his head. “You know you could probably to be the lieutenant general with this in your back pocket,” He told her.

"You think?" She asked as she typed manically on her laptop.

He nodded. He kissed her hair and smiled. “I’m gonna go make you some coffee, because something tells me you’re gonna need it.” He told her.

"That would be great," She told him, offhandedly. Her focus was already laser sharp. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she hadn’t heard him leave the room.

He brought the coffee back and she took it off the tray greedily and already started sipping. She was serious about the whole ordeal. “I can’t believe the great district attorney Laurel Lance was gonna allow herself to be fired because some creep took a picture of her and gave it to the tabloids,” He joked.

She narrowed her eyes and looked over the rim of the coffee cup, “I had a moment of weakness,” She told him with a smile. “It certainly won’t happen again. I just don’t understand why they waited so long to release them,” She told him.

"Remember if they start giving you grief, that you have the entire Queen team of lawyers at your disposal." He told her as he lounged into the chair.

She got out of her chair and went and sat in his lap and shook her head as she locked her arms around his neck. “These people won’t know what hit ‘em between my ability to manipulate the law, your extensive knowledge of this part of it, and your fancy team of lawyers,” She told him and gave him a kiss.

"Is that you’re way of saying Thank you?" He asked.

She shook her head. “Oh, no, I’ll do that much later. And I think we can do even better than the picture.” She smiled, devilishly.

"So we’re getting through the fire?" He asked and raised his eyebrows.

She nodded to him. “We’re going straight up frozone on this.”


	54. Buying Beedle

Oliver looked at the book that Laurel picked up from the shelf, “Who’s this for?” He asked. “Is it someone’s birthday soon that I forgot about?” He asked as he looked around on the shelves and saw a myriad of books with brightly colored covers, the curse of children’s fiction.

"It’s for the baby," She told him. "I’m gonna read these to our baby," She told him as she looked through more of the shelves, looking for appropriate books that didn’t make her want to gag the authors with their weirdly enforced gender roles.

He looked at the book and read the back cover. “THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book know as HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS…” The cover read and he realized what this was. It was folktales from Harry Potter. He’d been interested in it, but he hadn’t said anything and he looked at Laurel. “Don’t you want to read regular fairytales to our child?” He asked as he put the book back on the pile.

Laurel shook her head. “Normal fairytales enforce weird gender stereotypes that no matter what gender our baby is, it won’t be participating in.” She told him as she put a couple more books on the stack. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna read them the series too. But I thought this one would be a good starting point. Once they get a little older and can remember being read to, then we’re gonna crack out the Harry Potter books,” She told him.

He chuckled under his breath and shook his head. “You don’t even want to try regular fairytales?” He asked.

"Will you give these a chance? I think you’ll like them," She told him as she took the big stack of books from the children’s section of Barnes and Noble and walked over to the law section to check out if there was anything that she didn’t own. There were a few self help books published by hacks, but all the legitimate stuff she looked over was fine and she owned at least one copy of.

He smiled. The thought of her reading to him again, that was fantastic. He loved that idea. “So are we gonna read them together?” he asked.

She nodded to him. “If you can get another copy sure,” She told him. “I’d love to read them with you.” She told him. “Is there anything else we need?” She asked him.

He shook his head. “Give me a minute to get another copy of the folktales you have approved for our children,” He teased her lightly.

She narrowed her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue, “You’ll appreciate that in the long run,” She shouted, but not too loud, aware they were, in fact, in public. She went to the checkout line and he followed shortly behind. They were probably about five people deep in line and he held the book awkwardly in his hands. “Just put it on the top of the stack, genius,” She told him.

He put it gently on the top. The line moved and they were waved to the next cashier open. Laurel put the bookstack on the counter and swung her purse around to get her wallet out. She pulled out her green Barnes and Noble card and smiled to the cashier, who had a name tag that read Beth. “Did you find everything, okay today, Miss?” Beth asked.

"Oh, I did." She told Beth as Beth scanned all of the books. Oliver smiled to beth. "This is my favorite part of new people in the house. New books." Laurel told her.

Beth smiled unsure of how to take that and so she said nothing, “Do you have a rewards card?” She asked and Laurel dutifully slid it over to help the process. She didn’t want to be the ones who stood the line up forever. Oliver gave her his credit card and she swiped it as she gave them their books. She gave Oliver the receipt to sign and his card back.

When they got home, Laurel put the books on the bookshelf she’d insisted on in the baby’s room and looked to him as she took a book off the shelf. “You ready to read?” She said as she tossed the other book to him. She looked at the rocking chair and looked to him. There was only one chair. “So here or…?” She asked him.

He took a seat in the chair and patted his knee to invite her in. She took a spot on his lap. “So at the beginning?” He asked her as he opened the first few pages.

She shook her head. “We’re gonna start on the second story, because it makes my point better,” She told him as she turned the pages in her book and he turned the pages in his.

He looked a little questionably at the title, “The Fountain of Fair Fortune?” He asked.

"Hush," She said as she came to the page and smiled, "Ready?" She asked him as she looked up at him. He nodded and she started into it. "High on a hill in an enchanted garden, enclosed by tall walls and protected by strong magic, flowed the Fountain of Fair Fortune…" She started.

As they flipped through the fourteen pages of the story, he had to admit that there was something to the idea that this book was different. It treated men and women differently than normal folktales. The women in this one were not damsels. He knew that was important to Laurel. That they not be taken as such and he finished the story up, “The three witches and knight set off down the hill together, arm in arm, and all four led long and happy lives, and none of them ever knew or suspected that the fountain’s waters carried no enchantment at all,” He finished.

"So how’d you like it?" She asked him.

He nodded. “It’s definitely better than regular folktales. It will show our potential daughter, it’s okay to be the author of her own journey. And our potential son that he should respect that narrative.” He told her as he kissed her hair and closed his eyes.

She grinned. “I told you that this was the one we needed.”

"And you were right." He told her as he laughed. "Like always,"


	55. Recursion of History

When he’d gotten off the island and came back home, he could have never thought this would happen. IN a million years, he never allowed himself to dream of days when he might be a father. “You okay?” Laurel asked as she looked into his office with a calm smile on her face.

He didn’t get how she could be so calm about this. Olivia was bringing home, a boy. And not just any boy. No, she was bringing home Alexi Anderson, son of one of his biggest rivals. And it was known that Alexi was a bit of a troublemaker. “Not really,” He said through gritted teeth as he busied himself with his computer.

Laurel put her hand over his on the mouse, and smiled to him. “She’s gonna be fine.” Laurel laughed lightly. “She’s a big girl, she can handle herself,” She told him.

"It’s not her I’m worried about," He told her as he gave her a grave look.

And Laurel burst out laughing.

Oliver scrunched his eyebrows together and that only made her laugh harder. “Oh my god, I can’t believe this. I need a picture of that face,” She said as she took her phone out and captured the look he was giving her.

"What’s so funny?" He asked as he sat her on his lap.

She kissed his forehead and smiled. “You, my love, are acting exactly like my father did when he heard that I was bringing you home as a romantic date. Alexi is you back all those many years ago,” She told him as she kissed his temple several times.

He looked offended by the implication that he could be acting vaguely like Quentin. Not that he wasn’t a nice man. He was. He’d certainly gotten past that whole you’re dating my daughter/married to my daughter and if you do one bad thing, if you even make her lip quiver, I will murder you and feed you to pigs phase. But Quentin was very rigid in his relationships with his daughters when they were younger. If he was acting like Quentin, that wasn’t cool. And he didn’t really think he was. It wasn’t rigid if he knew the kid was bad news. “You saw the real me. All your dad knew was what was in the papers. He didn’t even take the time to get to know me.”

Laurel shook her head. “And what exactly are you doing to Alexi right now?” She asked him as she gave him that look. The look he saw when he knew that he was outrun by her. He humphed and she ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s fine. Just meet the guy and don’t judge immediately okay? She sees something in him. And that means we should try to as well,” She told him.

"I can’t guarantee I’m gonna like him," He said as he kissed her hair with a loud smack.

She shook her head. “I’m not asking you too. I’m just asking you to give him a chance.” She told him as she walked out of the room, still laughing to herself.

He set his jaw and looked at the family photo on his desk, Olivia was probably about nine or ten, which would have meant Tommy was seven or eight and they just looked so happy. That picture was the first that they could smile together with the kids in a long time. He sighed as he smiled at it. His girls swinging around and Tommy looking over to them with just the happiest little look in his arms. He remembered a similar picture sitting on the Lance Family mantle when he went over for the first time to be introduced as Laurel’s boyfriend.

He snuck out of his office and creeped down the hall to where Laurel’s office was. She had just put in headphones and she was starting to get her computer ready for some work before they had to deal with Alexi. He pulled her hair back behind her neck and kissed her underneath the ear. “He’s gonna be here sooner than you think.” He chuckled.

Laurel spun around in her chair. “So you’re okay with the idea that our daughter is going to be dating?” She asked him with a hopeful smile.

He shook his head. “Oh no, that’s still a horror movie to me. But you’re right. I should give Alexi a chance and not just what I’ve seen in the papers. Which means that I should probably change out of this shirt.” He told her as he picked up his ratty t-shirt that showed his shoulders through threadbare collar portion.

Laurel shrugged. “I happen to like this shirt on you,” She said as she chomped her teeth at him.

He snickered. “Well, then, I’ll have to wear it more often. But I should come off as the man who can kick his ass 1300 miles in any direction, and this shirt, it doesn’t really say that,” He explained as he kissed her.

"I suppose, I should put on something more flattering too, huh?" She asked as she walked out the room and he walked behind her. He didn’t think she needed to change, but by no means was he going to stop her. Queen Rule 1, don’t try to stop laurel, pretty much ever.

He put his arms around her waist and smirked. “You know, we do have some time before Alexi and Olivia make it over here,” He told her.

She turned to him and shook her head. “We can’t let them catch us. Honestly, Oliver, we’re not becoming trollops again.” She scolded.

He pouted. “Being a trollop is half the fun of being a person. Besides, it doesn’t have to be everything,” He told her.

"Is this how you’re dealing with the horror movie of our daughter dating a tabloid tim? unresolved sexual tension, really?" She asked him as she got into the bedroom.

He ghosted a finger over her neck and smiled, “is it working?” He whispered.


End file.
